Roseus Elementeus
by Stellos-Core
Summary: A Dragon Tails Webcomic Fanfiction. When Bluey's latest experiment goes wrong, Goldy and Tocsin find themselves in a new galaxy. There they face foes and make friends, one of whom turns out to be very special.
1. 01: Bluey Menace

Roseus Elementeus

Chapter One – Bluey Menace

~~00~~

A forest. Commonly portrayed as a symbol of nature, of mystical forces, and sometimes of crazy little baby dragons that go on wacky adventures. This particular forest had many of them.

Among them was one in particular. He was the eldest, a black dragon with chromatic eyes, his name being Enigma. He had his own personal spot that he enjoyed minding his own business at, it being a rock in the middle of a pond. He called it his "lake", but if you ever got a chance to look at it, you'd get the feeling he was just trying to make more out of it than it was.

One particular day, Enigma was on his rock, reading from a mysterious book penned by his draconic ancestors. The language would be illegible to anyone else, as the symbols were unrecognizable to any human that may happen upon them. This book was the "pocket edition" however. It is said that ancient dragons wrote on massive tablets of granite; something such as that couldn't be easy to carry around and read while resting on a rock you know.

"Hey fathead!" a small voice called out. A small, angry voice of a very aggressive squirrel that happened to be a neighbor of the dragons in this forest.

Enigma slowly lowered his book enough to look out to the shore of his lake, and there stood said angry squirrel. Small was easily a description, not to mention the fact he was oddly shaped compared to the rest of the squirrels in this neck of the woods.

"That's right, I'm talkin' t' YOU, fathead!" The squirrel was bold, talking that way to the eldest and most powerful of the dragons here.

Enigma was silent, eyes slightly narrowed at the sight of the angry squirrel. He said nothing as he slowly raised the book back between his eyes and the sight of the squirrel.

"H– HEY! Don't you ignore me fathead! I got bones to pick with you!" the squirrel shouted.

There was a moment of silence, and Enigma heard the clunking of something made of metal. "Make that rockets then," the squirrel added.

Enigma lowered his book slightly again, only to see he was staring down the barrel of a bazooka. "HAHT-CHA!!" the squirrel shouted as he fired the massive weapon that he was somehow able to wield, at the young black dragon.

With a sudden and surprising display of agility, Enigma leapt straight up into the air, the missile passing directly under him and exploding on impact with a tree, blasting its leaves and branches every which way.

Enigma snarled, "Been raiding Bluey's weapon depot again have you?!"

"Eh, what can I say? He's got so many he never notices when anything disappears," replied the squirrel.

"I've been meaning to speak to him about that..." Enigma mumbled, as he landed back on his rock, surprisingly calm despite just being attacked.

"Now where was I? OH YEAH! DIE!" the squirrel shouted as he shoved another rocket into the weapon from an unknown stash on his person.

Enigma set his book down quickly, and jumped into the air to fly at the squirrel. "One of these days you're gonna do something you'll regret, Norman," he spoke.

Yes, Norman was the name of the angry squirrel. Perhaps it couldn't be any more contradictory to his nature. But Norman didn't care; he fired his rocket at Enigma, who swooped to the side to avoid the ballistic projectile. It screamed off into the woods to claim the life of another innocent tree.

Enigma clutched hold of a tree, and turning his head, blasted intense, white-hot flames at the diminutive rodent as he attempted to load his weapon again. With a shriek, Norman dove out of the way of the blaze, and rolled along, stopping on his seat. Somehow he had carried the gargantuan-by-comparison weapon with him.

Irritated by this, Norman hopped to his feet, and tossed a rocket into his launcher, before swinging around and firing it at Enigma. Or at least, at Enigma's position. The black dragon had disappeared, and the rocket disintegrated yet another tree. "Oh so now you're going into hiding, huh, fathead?" Norman shouted.

He hastily reloaded his weapon, and then began quickly, yet cautiously looking about. For the moment, a calm set in, as Norman grew slightly nervous at the sudden disappearance. He rested his weapon on his shoulder as he continued to scour the area in front of him. As he looked around, a glint could be detected in the brush behind Norman. Suddenly, with a snarl, Enigma lunged out of the bushes at his target.

The snarl startled the angry squirrel, who fired his launcher as it rested on his shoulder. The missile impacting Enigma at point blank, the blast launched him right back into the woods from whence he came. Norman, not prepared for the recoil of his launcher going off, rolled forward a short distance, and ended up laying front down. He got to all fours and looked back, before he busted out laughing. "That's what you get for scaring me, fathead!" he shouted, adding insult to injury.

Enigma swooped out of the woods, enraged by being hit by a rocket. Surprisingly, it didn't seem to do much more to him than burn the top layer of his belly skin. Smoke emitted from the blast points. With another girlie shriek, Norman leapt to the side to avoid the pouncing strike. He at least had the advantage of agility in his smallness. This didn't help much though when Enigma landed, on all fours as well, and exhaled intense flames at Norman, who was still moving mid-dodge. With a yell, Norman was ignited, and his stash of rockets detonated all at once, launching him sky high.

Enigma slowly stood up and brushed the soot off his belly, before looking into the sky. He visored his eyes with a hand, and watched as Norman flew up quite some distance, before slowing to a stop mid-air.

"Huh, so this is what weightlessness feels like..." Norman mused, for that very brief moment he hung motionless in the air. A swallow flew by, surprising him the next second and causing him to yelp. He yelped a second time as gravity finally decided to take hold, and he plunged to the ground, with a steady scream.

His aim was off. He couldn't even hit the ground if he tried. Instead, he landed in Enigma's lake with a splash.

"Oh great..." Enigma grumbled, "Now I'm gonna have burnt squirrel hair floating in my lake... I hope Bluey didn't turn the water net into a killer machine like he's doing with EVERYTHING ELSE IN OUR FOREST. Hopefully this 'new machine' he's working on isn't one of them..."

Norman slowly bobbed to the top of the water, very thoroughly cooked, and now soggy. "I'll take that check now..." he drawled, before passing out.

Enigma wandered off down a trail to get to their storage area for random items.

~~01~~

Another area of the forest was a common resting site for a pair of the young dragons. Two rocks, one larger and taller than the other, sat, their backs to the tree line, their fronts to a frequently traveled passage through the woods. It was almost a guarantee that at the right time of day, these two dragons could be seen sitting here, discussing concepts ranging from the mundane and trivial to the philosophical and complex. Today wasn't such a day for the latter kind of subject though.

Of the two dragons, one had a lime-green hide and shimmering purple eyes. His name was Abijar. The other had deep purple skin, and steady orange eyes. His name was Cornelius. All of the dragons in the forest were brothers, of the same clutch. It would seem that pairs may have either hatched from the same egg, or their hatching was simultaneous, because many considered another among their brothers to be their twin. These two, Abijar and Cornelius, were an example.

There they sat, at the moment quiet, having heard the ruckus of Enigma's and Norman's confrontation. They looked at each other, and back down the trail as Enigma walked by, with either an annoyed or a bored expression on his face. Perhaps it was a fusion of the two. A little smoke was still drifting off of Enigma, and he coughed once.

A few minutes after Enigma's passing, Abijar looked at the rocks they were sitting on for a couple of seconds. He then spoke, "Have you ever wondered why we seem to have our best conversations when we're sitting here?"

Cornelius glanced at his brother with one eye, and replied, "Well it is kinda peaceful here."

"I wouldn't call it peaceful after all those explosions..." Abijar responded.

Cornelius thought for a moment, then said, "Well, we do see a lot of things happen here at times, so maybe that gets our gears going?"

"I dunno... Most of the time it's pretty peaceful," Abijar said.

Cornelius looked at his twin with annoyance and stated, "You JUST said it wasn't that peaceful here!"

"Oh yeah, that is true. Well, I was thinking, maybe it's because of these rocks?" Abijar replied.

"Huh," Cornelius spoke, "Now that you say that, it does make me think of what that one famous human said... 'Your memory must be in your butt, because whenever you get up to go get something, you forget what it was'."

"That's silly. Trust a human to say something silly like that," Abijar responded with a snicker.

"I dunno, bro. Sometimes it does seem to happen. When I was on my break the other day, I came up with this brilliant subject to talk about, but when I was mid-way to getting here, I completely forgot," Cornelius stated.

"Was that the subject on the trans-dimensional potential of quasars we spoke about for hours on end when you got back?"

"Yes. Yes it was. And I remembered it the moment I sat down on this rock."

"Well maybe..." Abijar stopped for a second, then continued, "Maybe these are magical 'thinking rocks', and whenever we sit on them we get all these brilliant ideas for subjects to converse on!"

"Now THAT is a silly thought," Cornelius responded. Abijar just shrugged, and the two fell silent when Enigma walked by with the water net, grumbling something about having to "de-electrify" the net before he could use it. His body was emitting more smoke now than it was before, suggesting he may have had a conflict with the seemingly innocuous tool.

The twins looked at each other again, before looking back out at Enigma.

~~02~~

This forest was a vast, beautiful land, and a perfect place for the dragons to reside. Mostly unknown to humans, it had a temperate climate that never seemed to display a seasonal change. This forest acted as a village-setting for the dragons residing here, and all of their places of activity were open air.

The dragons had developed many "facilities" here, some of which were deceptively advanced in construct. Their "theater" was not so much. This theater consisted of a slightly rickety raised platform of wood, in a small clearing of woods. At least a dozen or so stumps, polished smooth, were evenly distributed to make for comfortable seating.

It was here that Corlis, a deep-green dragon with not-so-deep green eyes would perform his occasional comedy routine for his brothers, when he wasn't out in the local city doing so instead.

His audience today was slim. Only one of his brothers was among the group of three. This meek little white dragon with blue eyes bore the name of Lemuel. Also among the group was Corlis' pet kitten. Of seemingly deceptive intelligence, this little white ball of fur was named Moppy. The kitten would speak with simple "mow"s, yet what he apparently said was sometimes so brilliant it would baffle the more intelligent members of this woodsy community.

With them was a small, female squirrel, a "clone" that Norman commissioned some backwater science facility to construct. She was delivered as a baby squirrel, female, and with a personality very much opposite her surrogate father. Needless to say, the angry squirrel was not too happy with the results.

Being female, and ignoring Norman's persistent addressing of her as "clone", the girl squirrel went by the name of Normeena. She was perhaps the only member of the forest that Enigma was actually fond of.

"Thanks for coming," Corlis announced to the group, "I was kinda hoping some of the others would show up, but I guess when you're busy you're busy. Anyway, I have some material here contributed by my friends and brothers here in the forest, and I now present them to you."

Lemuel alone clapped, but slowly stopped when Moppy and Normeena looked at him. He sheepishly hunched slightly and listened to Corlis.

With perhaps a slightly nervous cough, Corlis ruffled the papers in his hands, then looked at the first joke, reading it, "Your mother is so fat when she sits around the forest, she sits AROUND the forest! ...Well that's not very funny..."

The others sat in silence, and Lemuel coughed slightly.

"Hnn..." Corlis droned, looking at the jokes on the paper, and read another one, "Your mother is so stupid she failed a survey! ...Who WROTE this trash?!"

He looked at the bottom of the paper, and spotted Norman's signature. "...Well that explains it..." Corlis muttered, and flipped the page to the back of his selection.

After a moment, he read from the next page, "Knock knock!" Normeena, recognizing this type, responded, "Who's there?" "Cash." "Cash who?" "No thanks, I prefer Peanuts," Corlis finished.

This at least got a giggle out of Normeena. Lemuel and apparently Moppy didn't get the joke, which unnerved Corlis a little. He looked down the list on the page again, and read another. "Knock knock!" he started. Normeena continued, "Who's there?" "Chimney." "Chimney who?" "Chimney cricket! Have you see Pinocchio?" Corlis finished.

A very distressing silence ensued. Moppy then "spoke", "Mow..."

"Yeah, thanks for painting a whole portrait on the matter, Moppy..." Corlis grumbled. "Ohhhh..." everyone else responded.

Corlis, deciding to move on, switched to the next page in his selection. After studying it for a moment, he spoke, "How do you shoot a blue elephant?" After a moment, "With a blue elephant gun."

There was silence, before Normeena spoke, "Why not just use a regular elephant gun? Or maybe a rocket launcher? I doubt any elephant could withstand that..."

"You've been hanging around Norman too long..." Lemuel commented. Normeena shrugged.

Corlis, annoyed by the sudden tangent, spoke up with the next joke, "How do you shoot a red elephant?" After a second, "Hold his trunk shut until he turns blue, then shoot him with the blue elephant gun."

Normeena tilted her head, and asked, "What difference does it make what color the gun, or for that matter, the elephant is? Bullets don't care what they hit!"

Lemuel edged away from Normeena a little bit. Corlis just sighed, and flipped to the next page. After reading the paper a bit, he began to snicker, and read, "'Day one of my attempt to invent a self-vacuuming carpet ended in catastrophic failure when the carpet sucked itself into a singularity. Colin hasn't trusted me with his rugs ever since."

The group steadily laughed at the line, which was apparently a stolen report from the inept inventor of the clutch, Bluey.

Corlis continued reading another section of the log, "Day three was not too successful either. I may have invented the flying carpet. Unfortunately it burned up in the atmosphere. Hopefully the family that 'donated' the rug for my experiment won't notice it's gone."

By this point Corlis was laughing hard, as was his small audience. With a sudden hiccup, Corlis blasted out flames, disintegrating all of the papers he had in his hands. "Aww," he reacted.

~~03~~

"I've been wondering about planets lately..." Abijar spoke, sitting on his "thinking rock", with Cornelius next to him.

"What about them?" Cornelius asked, feeling inclined to look at the sky.

Abijar mused, "Well, we know there are gas giants, and terrestrial planets... But they always seem so boring in design. I mean, a red desert? A WHITE desert? Wouldn't it be cool if, say, the planet was covered in pink plants?"

"How the heck would that be 'cool'?" Cornelius responded with a confused expression.

"Well, at least it certainly would be pretty..." Abijar mumbled.

"Meh. I'll tell you what'd be cool..." Cornelius said, gesturing outward slightly as if he was conjuring the image in front of him. "A gas planet with floating continents. You'd have to fly to get to them. There wouldn't be anything but clouds below you."

Abijar shuddered. "That wouldn't be cool! That'd be scary! If you ran into anything, you'd fall forever! Plus your wings would probably get tired..."

The two fell silent for a moment.

Abijar then spoke again, "The arctic world has always been portrayed as covered in snow in science fiction... Why always snow?"

"Well maybe because snow is practically the symbol of cold?" Cornelius answered.

"Yeah, I get that, but why not just ice? Or maybe freezing fog? The planet could be a water world full of ice and wind!" Abijar fantasized.

"Ehh, I'd rather go with my floating continent world. At least there the temperatures would be steady," Cornelius spoke, growing disinterested with the subject.

"Let's not forget the possibility of other worlds that are like ours," Abijar wisely stated.

"Ahh yes, only they'd be mostly devoid of humans and instead have people that respect nature and let the planet become a paradise," Cornelius agreed.

They both nodded in approval at the concept.

~~04~~

In a more remote section of the forest, two figures moved along the brush, no trails found here. One of the figures, a shiny gold dragon with green eyes, stood out amongst the earth tones of the forest. He bore the unfortunately unoriginal name of Goldy. His companion though, stood out even more so.

This small entity was a dragon roughly about the size of Goldy's head. By comparison though, the dragons of this forest, as young as they were, were nearly as tall as a fully grown human. Thus, the small being was at least a foot in length. This entity floated in the air perpetually, and bore four wings set as upper and lower pairs, which he hardly moved, relying on an unknown means to stay aloft. He had a long neck, ending in a nubby, mostly featureless head, aside from a pair of large black eyes, and a tiny mouth that never seemed to move. His tail was as long as his body, ending in a blunt tip. As far as limbs were concerned, he had a pair of featureless legs set at the back of his body. This entity, with a body of white, glowed white with the fire-element branch of Plasma.

"Are you sure Enigma won't have a problem with this, Goldy?" the small dragon spoke, with an equally small, though clearly male, voice.

Goldy replied, "Yeah, I'm sure, Tocsin. We feel confident the microwave Bluey set to detonate, destroyed any threats that were still down there."

Tocsin followed Goldy as he climbed through bushes, hopped over a root, and narrowly avoided smacking his head on a low-hanging branch. "I wonder what that 'new experiment' he's working on is..." Tocsin commented.

"Something that'll end up in cinders just like everything else I'd imagine," Goldy replied.

Tocsin responded, "Heh. No doubt."

The two eventually came to a semi-clearing in the woods, where there were no major trees, but they had managed to reach out and form a canopy, producing speckled light on the ground. There, in the center, was a large metal shaft delving deep into the ground. The grass around it bore the vague appearance of burns.

Tocsin drifted over to the top of the shaft, and peered down. "I'd imagine this is what you were leading me to?" Tocsin asked.

Goldy nodded as he drew near to the shaft. "We call them the 'Slinky Tunnels'," he noted.

Tocsin commented, "...I'm not gonna ask why."

Goldy moved to climb down a ladder into the shaft. The ladder consisted of individual metal bars mounted to the wall. "Honestly, I'm amazed this ladder is as undamaged as it is, given the size of the explosion..." Goldy remarked.

Tocsin had nothing to say, and was unsure about descending down into a place the others called the "Slinky Tunnels". But he followed Goldy anyway, simply floating down the shaft around Goldy's head height.

Climbing down, Goldy asked, "You know Lemuel has a girlfriend?"

Tocsin replied, looking around at the burned shaft walls as he did, "Yeah. Never met her before. Nothing but all the sugar-coated descriptions Lemuel provides to go on."

"Have you thought about it more... deeply? You know, like, if you met someone?" Goldy questioned.

"I'm a machine, Goldy... I couldn't possibly have the capacity for such emotion..." Tocsin replied.

Goldy stopped, looking at Tocsin with one eye. "Don't give me that!" he exclaimed, "Lemuel was right when he said you were a person. So what if you were born of fire and produced by some kind of high-tech ball? You've shown all kinds of emotion, ranging from fear to anger to happiness in the adventures we've had."

Tocsin was silent for the moment. The thoughts began to swirl in his head.

And after a couple of minutes, Goldy touched the ground, and stepped off the ladder, before turning around.

Ahead lay a heavily damaged corridor. Most of the ceiling panels and objects had been obliterated, and the ground and walls were severely cracked. Debris consisting of mangled metal and rock chunks lay all along the floor everywhere. It was dimly lit by the sky above in the shaft.

Ahead Goldy could see that the passage was completely blocked by a massive pile of impenetrable debris. He felt disappointed that they'd reached a dead end right at the start. That was when Tocsin spoke up, "Goldy, over there."

Tocsin pointed with his tail, and Goldy looked. He saw, shrouded by the darkness, a blown-out section of wall, and artificial light emitting from within. The two approached, and inspected this section of the corridor. The blown-out section of wall bore a jagged "V" shape, and behind it, they could see a very short corridor with a split-center door, and a dimmed, blue light above it, at the end. Beside the door was some kind of control panel, that was clearly online.

"I am really surprised to see something working in this place after the description of that explosion you gave me," Tocsin commented.

Goldy, nodding in agreement, climbed over the low section of the "V"-shaped opening in the wall, and approached the door. He noticed dim light emitting from under the door too, which did not reach all the way to the ground. He looked at the control panel, the many buttons with numbers on them glowing dimly.

Goldy began to type random codes in the panel, all of which were rejected.

"Well that was a pathetic attempt..." Tocsin chided.

"You have something better in mind?" Goldy huffed, arms akimbo, looking at Tocsin.

"I do," Tocsin retorted, before descending to the floor, and squeezing his way under the door to the other side.

Goldy blinked at the sight, then heard Tocsin push a button behind the door. With the hiss of releasing air pressure, the door opened, splitting in the center, and the two halves retracted into the wall. There, Goldy saw that Tocsin had found another panel on the other side, and a button that was currently depressed read "Open" on it. Goldy blinked again, then rolled his eyes at the simplicity of it all.

This next corridor was long, and absolutely featureless, aside from the symmetrical placement of florescent lights, air vents and ceiling speakers. The two began to walk down this corridor, at almost a casual strolling pace. Tocsin floated beside Goldy on his left side, eyes only half open, perhaps out of boredom.

After a moment, Goldy broke the silence, "So... yeah... girlfriend."

"What is with this sudden interest you have in my getting a girlfriend?" Tocsin asked abruptly.

"Eh, it's just been going through my mind lately. I mean, this forest is totally DEVOID of girls, aside from Normeena," Goldy commented.

"True enough..." Tocsin responded, "Yet I don't see why you'd be concerned with me, and not with yourself."

"Actually I just asked cause I wanted your thoughts on the matter. Lemuel's the only one among us with any contact with another female dragon. It makes me wonder how many there are out there," Goldy mused.

"Enough to keep your population up at any rate," Tocsin replied.

Goldy shrugged, then stopped talking when they reached the next door. The panel beside this door was as simple as the previous one, so Goldy pressed the "Open" button, and with a hiss, this door opened in the same manner. They stepped into the room, and fell totally still and silent in aghast at the sight of what lie before them.

This massive chamber, lit with huge halogen lanterns hanging from the ceiling, was filled with strange machines. On tables were parts to machines. At least two piles of apparent junk lay in the corners, and on large shelves that required rolling ladders to reach the top of, were very strange and at times ridiculous tools and inventions.

They also spotted a couple of tables with what looked like advanced chemistry complexes. Lining the left and right walls of the chamber from where they stood were doors with the apparent design to retract into the wall above them. Cords were strewn across the floor, and up the walls in various places as well.

There was a distinct lack of dust in this chamber, as if it was still in use, and the two noticed this. They stepped forward slowly, looking around. Describing the bizarre and many objects of this chamber would be virtually impossible, as there was simply too many and they were too bizarre.

Goldy drew closer to one of the shelves, and stood, looking up at it, before directing his attention to an object on the bottom shelf. Tocsin meanwhile drifted over to one of the Chemistry Tables, and peered into a cone-shaped bottle half filled with a strange purple fluid. Through the other side of the bottle, Tocsin's head appeared to distort in a comical manner.

"I get this horrifying feeling we may have discovered a secret workshop for Bluey..." Tocsin said in a low tone.

"No kidding..." Goldy responded, "Look at this weird thing."

Goldy picked up from a shelf what looked like a cross between a mechanical arm and a laser turret head. "Don't pick that up!" Tocsin exclaimed, but it was too late.

The halogen lights dimmed, as red alarm lights began flashing above the various doors in this chamber, and a klaxon went off. In an attempt to stop the alarm, Goldy put the device back, but the alarm continued to blare.

Tocsin noticed steam emitting from the control mechanisms for the six doors along the walls. The doors began to quickly and noisily retract upward, and nothing but darkness could be seen within the rooms. Orange glows in pairs then became visible within the chambers, and metallic footsteps could be heard.

Goldy and Tocsin were terrified to see marching out of these chambers what looked like mechanical dragons of the same design and appearance as the rest of the dragons in the forest. The fact they had blue paint smattered onto them, along with the orange eyes, revealed that they were mechanical versions of Bluey.

"You have GOT to be kidding me..." Tocsin shouted, "ROBO-BLUEYS?!"

Goldy shrieked, "RUN AWAY!!!"

The two made a break for the door, as the dozen and a half or so of Robo-Blueys marched toward them, mechanically chanting, "Intruder Alert. Intruder Alert."

Goldy tripped on a loose cord on the floor, but kept crawling fast, kicking the cord off and leaving it reaching up slightly. He and Tocsin reached the door, and Goldy pounded the "Open" button. The horde of Robo-Blueys marched for the two mindlessly, arms reaching out much akin to zombies. The door opened on the first press, but Goldy, in a blind panic, kept pressing the button.

"This ISN'T an elevator!" Tocsin yelled, fleeing the room through the door.

"Oh, right..." Goldy spoke, before running through the door as well.

As the Robo-Blueys marched, one of them, in the lead, got its foot caught on the same cord that Goldy tripped over. The robotic dragon slowly looked to its foot as it fell over. Apparently dense, the machine hit the ground so hard its head popped off, and the body suddenly detonated. The droids caught in the blast also exploded, unleashing a terrifying chain reaction of blasts as all of the remaining droids exploded. Their blasts were also inflicted on the chemistry tables and other completed machines.

Goldy and Tocsin fled down the corridor as fast as they could, before one megalithic explosion rocked from the chamber. A blast roared up from behind them in the corridor, that launched the two forward, propelling them through the still-open door at the other end.

With a dull thud, Goldy hit the wall at the opposing end, upside-down and Tocsin was thrown against Goldy's belly. Goldy slowly slid down the wall, and fell, landing belly down and squishing Tocsin, who yelped.

The two groaned. Goldy slowly stood up and shook his head, trying to reorient himself. Tocsin slowly rose back into the air, and spoke, "I'd take a girlfriend over you lunatics any time."

Goldy sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

~~05~~

"You know that 'new machine' Bluey's been working on?" Abijar asked, quietly, looking away from Cornelius at the moment.

Cornelius shuddered slightly, and spoke, "I don't even want to think about it..."

"Well I still wonder what it could be," Abijar mused, "Maybe it's a new version of a moon rocket?"

Cornelius was quiet for a moment, then spoke, "That might be why he wanted Brainy to help him with it. Though I thought he'd given up on the moon rockets. That seemed almost like something of a fad for a while there."

Abijar spoke, "I'm kinda glad they stopped... The launching of those rockets always made so much noise, I couldn't even hear my music with my big cup headphones on."

"Not to mention the smoke and dust that always billowed out. It made such a horrible mess it took us hours to clean up," Cornelius added.

They were silent for another couple of minutes, looking around.

"Wouldn't it be cool if it was some kind of device that could capture things that you see and record them to some kind of storage system, for you to then watch later?" Abijar spoke, enthusiastically.

Cornelius slowly looked at his brother in disbelief. Abijar slowly looked at his brother, then looked away, sighed and said, "Yeah I know. It's the most ridiculous idea out there."

Cornelius looked away, and shook his head. Silence ensued, and a breeze blew past. After another couple of minutes, Abijar looked back.

"Maybe it's a food replicator. You know, like those things on that show Star Trek?" Abijar wondered.

"Oh dragon, I hope not. You realize those machines worked by converting body waste into food? I can't think of a more disgusting concept," Cornelius exclaimed.

"UGHAH! UGHAHAH!" Abijar shouted, having fallen off his rock in shock and disgust at the mere thought of it, laying there with a foot kicking spasmatically.

~~06~~

In yet another section of forest, near a small stream flowing through, four mechanical beings could be seen. Clearly sentient droids, they spoke amongst each other.

One of them, the apparent leader of the four, was mostly humanoid in appearance. While many cords could be seen, they seemed symmetrical in design, with a purpose. The robot had a monitor on his chest, but still had eyes and a light-up ring around his head where a mouth would be. A single antenna protruded from the left side of his head and curved upward, ending in a red ball. Several pointless cords hung from the back of his head, with a distinct semblance to a ponytail. The eyes of the droid's head seemed almost detached from his face, and sported their own animate eyebrows. This droid's name, was Colin, a friendly, intelligent droid and one of the few creations by the infamous Bluey that had not exploded.

With him was a miniature version of himself. This little bot, clearly not as intelligent as the larger one, was apparently built by Colin as a helper robot. His name was Billy.

And beside Colin on the other side was a tall, fearsome droid, also somewhat humanoid in appearance, and sporting a pair of four-slotted missile launchers on his back. A battle droid named Bios, with an unhealthy addiction to destroying things. At this time though, his launchers were empty.

These three droids stood before a fourth, a droid designed to look like all the other dragons in the forest, only a deep brown in color, and armed with much larger claws, among other things. The droid was currently standing, hunched and tilting forward, light-up eyes not glowing, suggesting it was offline.

Beside Billy were a stack of computer parts. Critical parts that is. Specifically, there were at least a dozen Motherboards, the key element to any computer. Colin spoke, "Good job on acquiring those motherboards Billy."

Billy looked happy. Bios spoke in a menacing mechanical voice, "We're going to do what with these now?"

Colin explained, "Well, since Tinny Mk3 here got that horrible virus during that one rocket competition, he's been rusting and collecting spider webs. I'd like to get him back online. It would never hurt to have another robot around to help with our various... projects."

Bios continued, "Ah, so you had Billy collect those motherboards to replace Tinny's in the hopes we'd find one that would be sufficient."

"Correct," Colin responded, "But the only problem is that it might cause some... slight personality alterations."

Bios looked at Colin, then at Tinny, and spoke, "I don't see how it could be that bad. Let's begin."

"My thoughts exactly. Put the first motherboard in, Billy," Colin stated.

"KAYkay!" Billy replied enthusiastically, taking a motherboard.

He stepped around behind Tinny, and opened a panel in the back. "Wow! It's dusty in here! Maybe we should give him a blast of compressed air?"

"Don't worry about that. Just change the motherboard," Colin requested.

"A-kay!" Billy replied. He proceeded to pull out the old motherboard from Tinny's system, and placed the one he had on hand inside. He tossed the old one over his shoulder, and it broke on impact with the ground.

Billy closed the panel, and hopped off. Colin stepped forward and activated Tinny.

Tinny's eyes slowly began to light up, then lit fully, an eerie red. He then moved, and looked around. Colin spoke, "Z'at you, Tinny?"

The dragon droid looked at Colin, and replied in a gruff man's voice, "Who th' hell are you callin' Tinny', scrap heap?! Where the hell am I?! Where the hell is my Gauss Rifle?! I was in the middle of a fight with some Zerg, and now all of a sudden I'm here?! I need a cigarette..."

Colin and Bios looked at each other, before Colin quickly reached out, surprising the dragon droid, and shut it off. "THAT won't work..." he mumbled.

"Yaaay! I get to try more!" Billy squealed, as he grabbed another motherboard, and climbed up Tinny's back, getting inside the panel again. He nearly fell into the droid at one point, then tossed the rejected motherboard out, before putting the new one in.

They again activated the dragon droid. It looked around, then snickered in a kooky manner. "Robots!" it shouted in a strange male voice, "What weird looking robots!"

It leaned toward Colin, bringing a hand up to the opposite side of its face, and spoke quietly, "You wouldn't happen to know where Erma is, would you?"

Colin replied, "Uhhh... No? Who's 'Erma'?"

"MY FLYING PIG!! WHEE!!!" Tinny shouted, before hopping, flipping in the air as he did, to land on his hands, and performed a handstand for a second, before falling and nearly crushing Colin.

Colin quickly reached for and hit the switch to turn Tinny offline. With Bios' help, the two got Tinny to standing again.

"NEXT!" Colin shouted in annoyance.

Billy, eager to comply replaced the current motherboard with another, and they carefully activated the droid.

"TREASURE?!" he shouted abruptly in a deep male voice with just a hint of Italian accent, looking around, "Oh... Ehh... I guess not."

He then went to pick his nose, but found he had no nostrils. He looked at his hand, and shrieked. "THAT STUPID GENIE TURNED ME INTO A ROBOT?! I've been on fire, I've been a zombie, I've even been a vampire! Even though that doesn't make much sense since I love Garlic. But THIS is a new one!"

With a click, Colin turned off Tinny. Billy, not even needing to be told to, replaced the motherboard yet again, and they turned him back on.

The droid then coughed sickly, and looked around. "AUGH! Nature! Everything is so healthy! Where is the blight?!" He noticed the robots, and spoke, "...What are you? Some kind of... metal skeleton? I've never seen undead like you before..."

With a click, Colin turned off Tinny once again. And once again, Billy replaced the motherboard. They followed this by yet again turning the droid on.

"GAH!" the droid exclaimed, then looked around. "Erik? Olaf? ...Great, I lost them, AGAIN." He looked at the group, and spoke in a threatening manner, "What are you looking at? Come any closer and I'll punch you good. And then I'll find that stupid witch and punch her too."

He looked off to the side as he spoke the last portion of his statement, and Colin quickly took the opportunity to turn Tinny off.

"Aren't there any REGULAR PERSON motherboards in that stack?!" Colin complained.

"Maybe this one?!" Billy exclaimed, as he replaced the motherboard once again. By now the pile of broken motherboards behind Tinny was significant.

They turned the dragon droid back on.

The droid was quiet, then waved at the group. "Hey there robots! You wouldn't happen to know where the nearest Pokémon Center is, would you?"

Colin facepalmed, and Bios shut Tinny off, Tinny yelping at the sudden reach before going offline.

"This is starting to prove fruitless, Colin," Bios stated.

"I'll say..." Colin replied, "Let's try one more. If it doesn't work, we'll just leave him this way."

"Okay!" Billy exclaimed, swapping the motherboards. Colin then activated Tinny.

Immediately, Tinny hunched more than he was before, to bring his fists to the ground, and he made a low grunt, stretching his head forward slightly and tilting it to look closer at Colin. He made a couple of curious grunts, and poked Colin's monitor chest.

"No touchy!" Colin stated. Tinny yelped with an ape-like shriek and hopped back.

"Turn him off Billy!" Colin exclaimed.

Billy, with a squeal, rushed up to Tinny, who, continuing to make ape-like grunts, held out a hand to stop Billy. Bios and Colin moved quickly to stop him, only for Tinny to grab Billy and throw him at Colin, knocking him over. He violently clapped his hands on Bios, quickly stopping his approach.

Tinny turned, and with an incredible leap, jumped into a tree, and swung on its branches to travel off into the forest.

"Should we pursue him?" Bios stated, while assessing the damage to his person.

"...No," Colin decided, "He's probably happy now..."

~~07~~

"What IS a monster?" Abijar queried.

"Well, a technical description of a monster is a creature that is an amalgam of unusual parts from other animals," Cornelius explained.

"Yet there are all kinds of monsters that aren't really..." Abijar stated.

Cornelius added, "Another description is that they are an ugly creature that strikes fear in people's hearts."

"Yet there are cute monsters..." Abijar responded.

Cornelius look around, then stated, "ANOTHER description is a person that is so cruel they strike fear with their vicious acts."

"Yet that one card character, Dark Magician Girl is incredibly beautiful and popular, yet she's considered a 'monster' too..." Abijar commented.

"I just guess that the definition of 'monster' is mostly dependant on the subject. A lot lies on personal opinions. More often than not, a 'monster' is just something that hates humans. It's said humans consider us to be monsters too," Cornelius explained.

Abijar huffed, and spoke, "I call it discrimination..."

"Typical of the humans, I'd say," Cornelius responded.

Abijar nodded. Looking ahead, he and Cornelius noticed all their brothers approaching. The crowd, which included the other inhabitants, consisting of Moppy, Norman, Normeena, Colin, Billy and Bios, began to travel past. They all moved as one seething mass. In the back of the group was Enigma.

"Hello. Where's the fire?" Cornelius asked.

"Bluey's 'new machine' is finished. He wants everyone to be there for the unveiling..." Enigma replied. His tone couldn't possibly carry any less enthusiasm.

He continued on. Abijar and Cornelius looked at each other. "You want to see a monster?" Cornelius asked, "Well this looks like the perfect opportunity."

Abijar nodded slowly. He and his brother hopped off their rocks, and headed after the group, walking down the trail to the site of Bluey's new machine.

~~08~~

Bluey, the ever-mentioned and perhaps most well-known member of this clutch of baby dragons, was a blue dragon with orange eyes.

"HAA – HAA – HAAaaa..." Bluey laughed, standing, arms akimbo, in a powerful pose, looking at a large, boxy machine. Beside the machine was a raised platform of metal with a small ramp leading to it. Built into the platform were a pair of curving metal arms that crossed each other at the top, forming an arch.

Brainy, a red dragon with blue eyes, walked past, carrying a length of rope.

Bluey turned around, and grinned as his friends and family stepped into the clearing and gathered closer. Norman and Normeena, knowing this most definitely will not end well, scampered over to a tree, climbed it, and sat on a branch near a hole in said tree.

"What in the world..." Colin spoke, "You have outdone yourself this time Bluey. How much equipment did it take to make this?"

"Eh, enough. I had some spare parts after I was finished assembling it. Not sure where they go, but they're probably just extras," Bluey explained.

"This had better be good to interrupt my reading time..." Enigma grumbled.

"Oh it is... It is..." Bluey replied, stepping over to his machine again, and standing beside a control panel.

Some of the members of this group happened to look off to the right, and developed various worried expressions when they saw Brainy taking the length of rope, and wrapping it around his chest under his arms. He tied it tight, and looped the other end around the tree trunk, before tying it tight as well. He then sat there, arms crossed, with almost a mindless expression.

Bluey spoke, "I present to you... The DIFLUM!!"

Everyone was silent, and Lemuel then replied, "Um... Yay?"

"'Diflum... Diflum... What does it stand for?" Tocsin questioned.

Bluey explained, "It stands for 'Dimensional Fluxuation Manipulator.' This fantastic device has the capability of sending a beam into the realm of Time and Space, and cutting a small tear, before sending the beam through to a target destination on the other side! With this, we could travel anywhere in the universe!"

"This couldn't possibly be a worse idea, Bluey. Messing with the fabric of Time and Space should never be performed without knowledge of how it works EXACTLY. Dire consequences are inevitable if you don't," Enigma warned.

Yet Bluey retorted, "Such pish-posh... And what makes you think I DON'T have the knowledge? I played Portal enough to get the general idea of how it works!"

"Playing a VIDEO GAME does NOT teach you the mechanics of Time and Space!" Enigma shouted.

"That's what I said..." Brainy spoke from where he sat, still tied to the tree, "But of course he won't listen."

"Meh! I'll show you all, you bunch of negative nelsons! Watch, and behold the incredible power of Dimensional Fluxuation Manipulation!" he announced has he flipped the switch to activate the machine.

The machine was quiet at first, as a hum could be heard growing. The lights on the machine quickly lit up, and blinking and flickering could be seen among them. The control terminal began to read various data and beeped numerous times.

Bluey read the data, nodding, then turned to look at the arch. On the platform beside the machine, the arch was beginning to glow as lines of energy flowed from the machine through tubes and into the arch arms. The energy continued to draw up the arms, and met at the top. A small energy orb formed at the meeting point, and a second orb began to form in the air centered between the arms and between the orb at top and the platform below.

Bluey grinned, arms crossed. The entire group watched in silence.

Then, a strange beeping was heard from the terminal. Bluey blinked, and looked at it. Some of the group also looked, while others continued to watch the floating orb as it pulsed and slowly grew.

"What..." Bluey started, before the beeping turned into an alarm. The machine's drone was gradually getting louder, and more erratic. "OH CRAP!!" Bluey exclaimed.

"HERE IT COMES!!" Corlis shouted.

The machine was quickly beginning to spark and shake, and a blast was heard from within. A huge surge of energy blazed through the tubing and into the arch, causing the arms to shatter violently. The small orb suddenly shifted to purple in color. It expanded into a massive swirling vortex of purples and blacks, and an incredible gravitational force began to draw in everything in front of it viciously. Right away rocks, dirt, plants and stray leaves began to flow in. The air itself was almost visible from the harsh suction.

Bluey yelped, taking out of his personal inventory a grappling gun. "Glad I just happened to have this on me!" Bluey exclaimed as he fired it to a nearby tree. The hook reached the tree and swooped around it, digging a claw in deeply. Bluey, quickly being lifted into the air, hung valiantly to the rope, and began to climb the rope away from the pull.

The vortex roared so loud the noise was virtually deafening. Only the screaming of the other people present overrode the noise. The portal control machine itself was quaking from the pull.

As the debris flew in, everyone struggled against the incredible pull of the vortex. Abijar tumbled toward the portal, but managed to reach out and snatch the rope that Bluey was using to save himself with, and hung on for dear life. Brainy hung in the air, keeping his sitting pose, arms crossed, securely tied to the tree, and sighed. Enigma immediately hopped with a twist and began to fly against the pulling force with all his might, wings moving so fast they were a blur. He slowly inched toward a rock, arms reaching out to grab it. He suddenly jolted back and yelped. He looked back to see that Corlis had gotten a hold of his tail. Enigma, his care for his brothers overriding his easily-annoyed attitude for the moment, looked forward again. He continued his forceful flight to grab the rock, then dug his claws in, in a death grip.

Colin at first flipped forward from the pull, but twisted and slammed his fingers into the ground to get a hold. He slammed his other fingers in too, and, digging his feet deep, began to crawl away from the force. He spotted Billy rolling toward him, squealing in either fear or delight. Either way, Billy nearly rolled past, before Colin snatched him up, and moved him to cling to his chest, before resuming his slow crawl. He next spotted a terrified and screaming Lemuel, clutching Moppy, flying through the air helplessly toward the portal. With a determined expression, Colin reached up and snagged Lemuel's tail, before he resumed hanging on.

Bios, in all his heavy bulk and supreme strength, crawled away from the incredible pulling force, digging his feet and fingers into the ground. Cornelius meanwhile, happened to be standing the farthest away from the vortex, and had enough time to grab a tree and cling to it, even as the tree leaned toward the pull. Brainy looked over, and saw Norman and Normeena peeking out of the hole in the tree they were on, safe from the pull. He then looked, and spotted Goldy.

Goldy, Tocsin near him, clung to the ground, digging his small claws in as deep as he could, and trying to climb the ground away from the pull. Tocsin, meanwhile flew with as much power as he could, against the pull of the portal.

"I... can't... fight it!!" Tocsin exclaimed.

"Don't give up!!" Goldy shouted, "Keep fighting!!"

"I CAN'T!!" Tocsin yelled, losing his concentration, and with a scream, he began to fall toward the portal.

"TOCSIN!!" Goldy shouted. In a desperate bid to save his friend, Goldy let go of the ground with one hand, reached as high as he could, and snatched at Tocsin's tail. He missed, and Tocsin free fell toward the portal. The ground under Goldy's remaining hand gave way, and Goldy stood upright very suddenly.

"...Crap," he uttered, before breaking into a scream, having lost his grip on the ground, and flew toward the portal.

Enigma looked back, teeth gritted, one eye closed. He and most of the others witnessed as Goldy and Tocsin plummeted into the portal, disappearing into the vortex, their impact causing ripples in the vortex as it continued to roar.

The machine powering the portal, by now, had worked so lose from its foundation that it was unable to resist the pull. A tree flew into the portal, before the machine cracked loudly, loud sparking and crashing sounds heard, before it broke loose from its support. Rolling toward the portal, it flipped up into the air and wadded itself in.

The machine, being as big as it was, was larger than the vortex itself. The portal suddenly began to turn erratic, spark and discharge energy waves. A horrible shriek of energy grew in seconds, before an incredible, blinding blast of energy filled the area.

~~09~~

Once the light and dust had cleared, everyone was laying on the ground, panting and mumbling, checking on each other. Brainy stood up and untied himself from the tree, and walked off without a word. Colin stood up and set Billy down, before making sure Lemuel was ok. Aside from a crushed tail, he and Moppy were fine. Most everyone else had dust to brush off, and scratches from high-speed projectiles being sucked into the portal to attend to.

Enigma, however, was absolutely enraged. He stormed over to Bluey, who was dusting himself off. He grabbed Bluey by the arm, and shouted, "You IDIOT!! I TOLD you that messing with Time and Space would have bad results!!"

Bluey pried Enigma's vice-like grip off his arm, and replied, "Yet you stuck around to watch anyway. Besides, we're all ok, right?"

Enigma hollered, "We are not! You SAW Goldy and Tocsin get sucked in!!"

Enigma fell silent, before narrowing his eyes, and added, "You did this just to get rid of your twin brother, didn't you?"

Bluey exclaimed, "Are you nuts? And risk all of you at the same time? Of course not! ...That was just an unintended side-effect."

Enigma snarled, lunged at Bluey, tackled him to the ground, and they rolled around, causing dust to billow up.

The others just stood, watching this, then looked at the area where the portal had been. Lemuel spoke, quietly, "Goldy... Tocsin... I wonder where they are now..."

END

Dragon Tails © Tim Dawson

Wenonah Galaxy © Adrian Smith


	2. 02: Pink Dimension

Roseus Elementeus

Chapter Two – Pink Dimension

~~00~~

Everything... blurry. Everything... dark. But then a dim green lighting began to set in.

Goldy groaned and lay on his back. His vision was completely out of focus; as hard as he tried, he couldn't seem to clear it. It didn't help that his stomach was churning violently, nausea overwhelming.

Slowly Goldy rolled onto his side. "Ohhh... My stomach..." he moaned.

He held his stomach with a hand, while he tried to take in his surroundings, as his vision slowly began to recover. All he could see was a dim green light, blackness was everywhere else. At least, until a white object moved into view.

"Are you alright?!" Tocsin shouted, floating over Goldy and looking down at him.

"I will be... when my stomach stops doing somersaults..." Goldy groaned.

Tocsin now looked around, taking in the sight of the chamber they had ended up in.

This chamber was dimly lit by a strange tube located at the meeting point of the walls and the ceiling, looped all around the square-shaped chamber. All along the floor, the debris from their forest could be seen, from grass clumps, to leaves by the dozens, to an entire tree, which had crashed against a wall. And right at Goldy's head, a huge panel lay on the floor. It was clearly the section of Bluey's machine that had been wedged in the portal. It was very finely sliced, but the various parts and wires inside were sharp and dangerous.

There were other things here too. Lining two of the walls were strange shelves. Their platforms were tilted forward and down, and lining them were weapons. Many guns, all of alien design; bladed tools, vicious in appearance; polearms with fearsome heads; gadgets with purposes unimaginable. Things Tocsin had never seen before. Blocking access to the weapons were energy shields generated by the shelving themselves, and mounted to the sides of these shelves were terminals, which had a bizarre design Tocsin had never laid eyes on before. The symbols on the screen were completely illegible.

Faintly, Goldy and Tocsin made out a sound that resembled an explosion. Tocsin was growing nervous.

"I seriously think we need to get out of here..." he spoke in a low tone.

Goldy slowly sat up, and belched slightly. Moving restarted his nausea. He groaned again and slowly got to his feet. "I never want to do that again as long as I live..." Goldy commented, before looking around. He took in the sights of where they were.

"...Where are we?" he asked, noticing the weapons shelves.

"Some kind of armory I think. I've never seen weapons like these before," Tocsin replied.

Another faint explosion echoed in the distance through the walls.

"I don't think we're in the forest anymore, Tocsin," Goldy replied.

Tocsin added, "And it sounds like there's a battle going on somewhere..."

The pair looked around this chamber to see if there was an exit. Indeed, on the other side of the massive machine chunk, was some kind of door. It appeared to be a single panel. There was a green, glistening plate in the wall above it. On both sides of the door, at about Goldy's hip height, were a pair of beams of green energy being emitted from the wall and curving down into the floor, that could be compared to railings. A fine film of energy filled in the gap that the beams formed vertically.

Goldy had to work his way around the massive machine part, as climbing over it would definitely result in serious injury. Tocsin stayed with him. They flinched when a loose wire on the machine panel snapped loudly with electricity.

Once they reached the door however, Goldy looked for a way to open it. Seeing nothing, he looked at Tocsin, who looked back. They then simply approached the door, and with a sudden and quick drone, the door opened, rising into the wall above it.

Goldy and Tocsin slowly peeked out of the door, and saw that a corridor lie ahead. They stepped out.

Yet another faint explosion, muffled by the walls, echoed.

~~01~~

They slowly stepped into the corridor, and saw its perfect symmetrical design. The corridor stretched quite some distance in both directions left and right from where they stood at the door. Directly in front of them was another door identical to the one they had just passed through.

The door slid shut once they stepped out, followed by a very audible click. Goldy looked back, and saw that the color of a mini-panel next to the door had shifted from a light green to a deep green. Their path back had closed permanently behind them.

Down the corridor, the two could see additional doors, for a total of four, two some distance to the left, two some distance to the right, face to face. This seemed to be a storage corridor for the most part.

Mounted into the wall space between the six doors, a total of four spaces, were unusual terminals displaying more data. This corridor, as dimly lit as the room they had just exited, gained its lighting from the same strange green tubing mounted to the top corners where the walls met the ceiling.

Another faint explosion echoed through the walls.

"This place is eerie..." Goldy remarked.

Tocsin slowly nodded, looked around, and stated, "This is not familiar to me at all. Definitely not like the temple where I lead you once before. It's alien in design."

Goldy continued to look around, and spoke, "I suppose we should actually get moving, instead of standing here in fear."

"Agreed," Tocsin. The two started moving.

They approached the door in front of them, and Goldy reached out. The door did nothing. He waved a couple times, yet the door did not react. Goldy approached the deep green mini-panel beside the door, and looked closely at it. Tocsin drifted closer for a good look as well.

This strange panel had five symbols on it, all very unusual. Goldy reached to touch the screen, getting the idea it must be a touch-screen system, but Tocsin spoke up, "I would not mess with that. You might set off an alarm... again."

Goldy drew his hand back at the sound of that, and conjured up in his mind the thought of all the doors opening and Robo-Blueys marching out at them. He shuddered, and backed away from the door.

"So where do we go?" he asked.

Tocsin's answer was interrupted by a slightly stronger, but still distant explosion. Very faint vibrations could be felt in the floor. Goldy looked down, then around, growing nervous. Tocsin stated, "Let's head to a door at the end of the corridor. Those wouldn't be locked from the inside I imagine."

Goldy nodded. He turned and headed off to the left, while Tocsin headed to the right. After a couple of steps, Goldy flinched, did a double-take with his head, then turned and ran back to the right to catch up with Tocsin.

Once they'd reached the door, they found it had the same energy railings on both sides of the door, and a green energy panel was above it, as was the case with the inside of the storage chamber. Recognizing this, the two approached the door. It slid open with the same kind of quick hum, but the two stopped short of passing through. Standing in their way in the next chamber, was some kind of massive droid. It had a long, roundish yet flat body, the color of which was a pale white. It bore six legs on this section of body, and attached to the front was a large, slightly teardrop shaped head. Protruding from the forehead of the droid were a pair of insect-like antenna, and below them where a mouth would generally be, were a pair of massive, fearsome pincers of energy. The droid had a single red eye in the center of the facial area above the pincers. In all, it looked like a huge mechanical Termite. A Termite Drone.

Goldy covered his mouth to avoid yelping or screaming, and Tocsin's eyes widened. The droid produced a clicking sound, and began to turn around. Quickly thinking, Goldy leapt to the side, and scrambled behind the energy railing beside the door. Tocsin swooped into Goldy's hiding spot, and peered through the film of energy into the doorway.

The Termite Drone, having turned around, peered into the corridor. It emitted more clicking sounds, before it began to scuttle at a slow pace into the corridor, somehow fitting through the doorway. Goldy kept his mouth covered in an effort to avoid accidentally making a noise to alert the droid. The Drone slowly passed the two, walking further into the corridor, occasionally emitting more clicking sounds.

As soon as the opening presented itself, Goldy rushed around the railing and practically jumped through the door as it prepared to shut. Tocsin followed easily, swooping through the air.

~~02~~

"Did you see the SIZE of that bug?!" Goldy exclaimed, still laying on the floor from his leap.

Fortunately the door had shut, so the Termite Drone did not hear.

"It was a machine... But I have never seen one like that before. We are definitely in some kind of alien facility," Tocsin stated.

Goldy got to his feet, and looked around. His jaw slowly fell slack at the sight of this corridor. Much more brightly lit, white lighting units in the ceiling accompanied the green light tubes in the top corners. What left Goldy shocked, was the fact the corridor stretched on a massive distance. All along the left wall, were doors similar to the one they stood with their backs to. A total of twenty-one doors down this corridor, and Tocsin saw that three more were on the same wall behind them as the corridor continued the opposite direction a shorter distance. At both ends of this huge corridor, the passage widened out into a large cube-shaped chamber that apparently acted as a branch station. Tocsin could see a towering computer system in the outer corner of the branch chamber. Additional terminals could be seen on the more barren left wall, and between them was a single door with a split-center opening design.

A slightly louder explosion emitted from behind the large, mostly doorless wall, which muffled the sound. "This... place... is... HUGE!" Goldy exclaimed. He was practically unable to see the end of the corridor down the other way.

"It would take me forever to map this place out," Tocsin remarked.

They detected the sound of one of the corridor doors opening further down the hallway ahead, and a pair of Termite Drones scuttled out. "...You might not get the chance..." Goldy said in a low tone.

The two Drones looked at Goldy and Tocsin, and emitted a shriek. They quickly began to scuttle toward them. Goldy and Tocsin, seeing this, yelped, turned, and fled down the short end of the corridor into the wider area. Goldy rushed for the door that was in this section, while Tocsin took a moment to look over at the massive, monstrous computer station in the corner. It had an empty chair of some kind of design in front of it at the moment, though the computer seemed to be online.

Goldy quickly approached the door, and Tocsin followed. As soon as it opened, they blindly charged in, only to skid to a stop, coming face-to-face with another being.

It appeared to have a slightly humanoid body. The torso appeared to be divided into armored segments. The flesh color of its body was a yellowish-green. The head was attached to one segment, which then filed down by five segments, gradually getting smaller width-wise, until they reached the hips, which were slightly larger than the previous segment. The legs, thin from start to finish, were mostly the same length as the body, and the knees, reversed, had shield-like plates on them. The arms highly resembled the legs, coming in two pairs, one pair found at shoulder height, and the second pair emerging from the sides of the second segment. Both the hands and feet resembled hands to a degree, having two fingers and an opposable thumb. The head was vaguely humanoid in shape, though slightly flat, and the back bore a bulge out and up slightly, where a long, black horn pointed straight up from the top-back of this bulge, ending in a needle-sharp point, with smaller spikes lining its back, pointing down. From the temples of the head emerged fine, insectoid antennae that reached up and back at an angle, thinning as they went. They curved sharply up near the tips. The eyes were ovular in shape, and appeared to be filled with thousands of lenses, likely a massive cluster of eyes, sporting various colors. Light sources reflected off of them, causing them to shimmer. There did not appear to be a mouth on the face, though the area where one would exist, all the way to the chin area, was a large grey metal plate-like formation of some sort.

Goldy and Tocsin had made their first encounter with an Insectid. At the moment the Insectid did not seem to bear any sort of weapon, though it was wearing glistening green armor plating over its body.

Goldy nearly instantly broke into a scream, as did Tocsin. Ironically, so did the Insectid. It turned and fled, dropping to all sixes to run, while Tocsin and Goldy spun around and shot back through the still-open doorway.

With a crash, Goldy ran clean into one of the Termite Drones, and Tocsin slammed into the eye of the other. Goldy flopped onto his back, while the Drone he ran into was flipped clean over onto its back, and began to wiggle. Tocsin shook his head, dizzied slightly, and backed away from the Drone before him. It snapped once at him with its energy pincers, but missed, due to Tocsin's size. That, and the fact Tocsin shot straight up to avoid it.

The flipped Termite Drone began to squeal mechanically, and its partner turned its attention to it, gently clutching it with its pincers to try and flip it over.

Goldy and Tocsin, of course, began to run down the corridor. "First giant bug robots, and now bug PEOPLE?! This place is crazy!" Goldy yelled.

"Definitely not a place for an entomophobic!" Tocsin added, as the two charged up the mostly empty corridor. The ground shook slightly from a louder explosion emitting from behind the doorless wall, and Goldy nearly stumbled, before stopping.

"Something is definitely going on outside!" Goldy stated, in fear.

Tocsin noticed the single door ahead on the right wall, and spoke, "Let's try that door. Maybe it leads outside."

They rushed toward this door, still having some distance to go. Goldy nearly stumbled once again with yet another structure-shivering explosion. "If we get out of here alive, I am going to make it my personal goal to sabotage every last one of Bluey's experiments," Goldy muttered.

"Honestly? I don't think he'll need the help," Tocsin responded.

Once at the door however, they noticed that there was an energy panel beside it with two symbols on it. One was above the other. Not caring now, Goldy poked the lower symbol. With a curious digital sound, the symbol released a ripple of energy in the panel, grew larger than the other symbol a bit, and started to glow. They heard a hum echoing from behind the door.

"...I get the feeling..." Tocsin started, before the door opened with a hiss, and they could see that it was a small chamber lit by a single white light in the center of the ceiling.

"That it's an elevator?" Goldy finished. The two entered the small chamber. They turned around, and before them outside the door were the two Termite Drones. One charged for them within the elevator, and the door shut. A loud thud was heard outside it immediately after.

~~03~~

Once the door had shut, Goldy and Tocsin looked around, and spotted the control terminal. Goldy grimaced, before looking at Tocsin, who shared a similar expression. The symbols on the control screen were all bizarre. "Aaahhh! I have NO idea which one is what!" Goldy spouted.

Banging could be heard outside the door now.

"Who cares! Just push one before those robots get the door open!" Tocsin yelled.

Goldy started, "Eenie meenie minie moe..."

"BUTTON! NOW!" Tocsin hollered.

Goldy, gritting his teeth and covering his eyes with a hand, reached out and pressed one of the symbols. The panel produced the same calm tone, the symbol released a ripple on the screen, grew larger than the other symbols and glowed. Another loud thud was heard in the door, before the elevator began to move. Goldy peeked between his fingers through one eye at the symbol. It was the second from the left on the top row. "I wonder if I sent this to the second floor..." Goldy mused.

Tocsin, watching the symbol above the door change, noticed that it seemed to be showing the symbols as displayed on the panel from right to left and bottom up. "I'm thinking that might be the third floor. I have no idea what floor we were on though..."

After a couple of seconds, Goldy mumbled, "This thing needs some music... Even if it was muzak it'd be nice."

Tocsin did not respond.

"Tocsin, what do you think about this?" Goldy then asked.

"I couldn't care less about music in an elevator Goldy..." Tocsin replied.

"Not that. This place. Where we are. Or should I say, where ARE we?" Goldy corrected, "Giant Termite robots... A building that is apparently under attack... A man-sized bug that doesn't look like those bug guys we would play basketball with... This is all so weird!"

Tocsin looked to the side, then replied, "We are definitely not on Earth, from the looks of this extremely advanced technology. We may be in another dimension, but if what Bluey said was correct, we aren't, as much as we're on another planet. We may even be in another galaxy, Goldy."

"Why is it other galaxies and planets always have malevolent aliens living on them? I thought that was always just the stuff of science fiction..." Goldy grumbled.

"Who knows... Whatever the case may be though, we're in the middle of it. I guess we have Bluey to thank for foisting this adventure on us," Tocsin stated.

"Adventure. Hey yeah! We're on an adventure! Our own adventure, for once, without Bluey taking the lead! Now's my chance to show I'm a leader!" Goldy said, standing proud, a fist to his chest.

"You couldn't lead your way out of a paper bag," Tocsin bluntly stated.

Goldy's proud appearance melted.

The elevator made a gentle hum, and the door slid open. The two peeked out of the elevator, before stepping out.

~~04~~

As soon as they stepped out, the elevator door shut behind them, and hummed away. Goldy yelped, the door having nearly shut on his tail. The two looked around. This corridor was identical to the one they had left, but for the key difference being that all of the green lighting seen on the previous floor was replaced with red lighting.

The pair heard a shrill cry. Looking to their left, they could see a pair of Insectids. They wore a different kind of armor, and were both armed with a pair of strange guns, and a dangerous-looking energy blade. The Insectids wielded their guns with their lower pair of arms, and their sword was held by their upper right arm.

One shrieked again in a high-pitched, slightly buzzing tone, pointing to the two. The Insectids aimed their guns, and fired.

The weapons released strange, pink orb swarms that flew in a pair of undulating and rotating lines, forming what could well be described as a double-helix. They also generated a peculiar buzzing energy sound. They flew deceptively fast despite their undulation.

Goldy, with a yelp, jumped sideways and landed on his side on the ground, while Tocsin shot up and to the side. The shots they avoided curved toward them as they dodged, revealing a basic homing technology. Goldy scrambled onto all fours and scampered down the corridor away from the Insectids, getting back to his feet as he did. Tocsin quickly followed, swooping and rolling in the air to evade additional shots. The Insectids began to pursue them. The same noisy one from before continued with its alien shrieking.

Not caring to take the energy to say anything, Goldy just ran, teeth gritted, either in determination or fear, and Tocsin sped along in the air beside him, as they charged down the hallway away from the pursuing Insectids. Another explosion caused the ground to shake slightly, one of the ceiling lights suddenly dying. It didn't effect the lighting of the chamber much, but only unnerved the two more so.

Within a minute, they reached the large cube-shaped branch chamber, which had yet another monstrous computer system in its corner. Goldy ignored this, headed for the door, hoping that it would open.

Indeed it did, and the two charged into this dimly lit, smaller corridor, which was mostly the same as the one they had been in before.

~~05~~

This corridor may have been the same, yet its doors were different. They had the split-center design, and while there were eight doors on the left wall, there was only one on the right, some distance ahead and in the center of the corridor.

Another explosion emitted from outside, and the lighting tube dimmed slightly before restoring. The two could hear the Insectids approaching, so they ran forward away from the door, which shut.

"I don't like how this floor has red lighting... That tells me this is a high-priority floor," Tocsin stated.

Goldy, still running, responded, "Might explain why they're shooting at us at least!"

As they fled down the corridor, passing the lone door on the right wall, they heard the door back at the previous end open. They stopped, and looked back to see the Insectids step in. At the same time, two or three explosions could be heard emitting from beyond the wall, each one louder than the last.

The next second, Goldy and Tocsin were flat on the floor. A tremendous blue explosion had nearly shattered the corridor. When they looked up, they could see what looked like some kind of star fighter vehicle that had flown clean into the building, through the single door on the wall, and exploded, a large silver wing reaching toward them. Flames roared from the damage, followed by another explosion that rolled the two down the corridor away a bit. Goldy cried out in shock, and Tocsin got back into the air again. An alarm was now blaring, with a bizarre tone to it.

Goldy scrambled to his feet, and shouted, "WHAT HAPPEN?!"

Tocsin, trying to resist, gave in and replied, "SOMEONE SET US UP THE BOMB!"

Goldy looked at Tocsin, who looked back, then hung his head and spoke, "I tried to resist it..."

Goldy then looked the other way and replied, "I wonder if all our base are belong to them, then..."

They turned, fled from the fire, and charged into the nearest door to them on the left wall. Right away, the two noticed, as the door shut, that this chamber seemed to bear some kind of long capsule-shape to it. Halving the chamber clean in the center was a nearly transparent energy field.

~~06~~

They moved forward, looking around. Tocsin looked straight forward, and spotted something floating in the air on the other side of the field. His eyes slowly widened.

The object, looked nearly identical to him. A tiny dragon with a small body, four fleshy wings, a long neck, featureless legs, and a long tail. The only difference, was that it was pink in color, glowing.

While Goldy looked at some kind of terminal on the wall, Tocsin slowly drifted toward the field. At the same time, the being looked at him, then began to drift toward him on the other side of the energy field.

The two stopped when they were face-to-face, the barrier separating them. It was like looking into a color-altering mirror. They even hung their wings at the same positions in the air, tails curved in the same manner. Tocsin was dead silent, eyes locked with this other dragon.

Goldy looked with one eye, noticed the scene, and narrowed an eye, before slowly walking over.

Tocsin broke the silence that had surrounded them. "...Goldy... Am... am I looking in a mirror..?" he asked hesitantly

Goldy responded, "...Nope, 'cause I don't have a reflection."

The being then spoke, in a teeny-tiny little female voice, "Please help me..."

Tocsin shot back a couple inches, and exclaimed, "That's.... That's another me! Only female!!"

Goldy responded, "Wow. It's Norman's cloning experience all over again."

The girl pleaded again, "Please, I beg you, let me out! The Insectids are holding me prisoner! I'm scared..."

Tocsin, quick to reply, moving closer again, stated, "How do we do that?"

She pointed with her tail, making Goldy think of the way Tocsin does it, at the terminal Goldy was looking at a minute ago. She said, "Destroy that terminal. It's what's controlling this shield... Please hurry..."

Goldy stepped over to the terminal, and leaned back, winding his fist up with two rotations of his arm behind him. He thrust forward with as much strength as he could muster. His fist plunged into the terminal, smashing it completely and causing it to spark violently. Goldy quickly yanked his fist free.

Tocsin observed that as soon as he did this, the energy field began to dissipate in a flickering manner, then died completely.

The girl dragon's eyes lit up, and she swooped out of the cell section, doing a little shuttle loop in the air, before stopping and looking at them, clearly happy now.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed, "Thank you so much for freeing me!"

She fell silent as they lingered there, staring at her. "Ohhh... I always forget..." she said meekly, as she drifted closer to them, and spoke, "My name is Deetria. I'm a Dimension Dragon."

Tocsin's eyes remained wide, and he kept motionless and completely silent. He was in total shock at the sight of this beautiful little dragon that looked nearly identical to himself. Goldy looked at Tocsin, before looking back and said, "I'm Goldy! Mr. McStare-a-lot over there is Tocsin. Pleased to meet you!"

Deetria did another little shuttle loop, before swooping in on Tocsin and nuzzling his face, causing his eyes to widen more than they were before. She then swooped over and glomped Goldy's chest area in a hug, for a moment. "Thank you again for freeing me! I don't even wanna imagine what those horrible bugs were going to do to me..." she squealed.

"Speaking of which..." Goldy started, "Where exactly ARE we? We ended up here by accident... And what's with all the chaos and star fighters crashing into buildings?!"

Deetria drifted back, looked at them, and explained, "You don't know where you are? That's weird... Well, as you may already know, this is a Barracks for the Insectids... Unethical science-happy bug men... They capture people and experiment on them... They're so evil... The chaos is because they illegally built this base on a peaceful world, and the noble empire of this galaxy, The Nebula, is attacking them. I hope they blow them all up!"

"So we ARE in another galaxy..." Goldy commented.

"Yep! This is planet Mara Seven, third planet from the Mynurvah star in the Wenonah Galaxy! It's a famous galaxy! I'm surprised you haven't heard of it..." she stated.

"We... don't do much space-travel," Tocsin said, finally getting free from the shock.

The ground shook from a large explosion in the distance, and Goldy fell over from it. Deetria, looking scared again, spoke, "We need to get out of here... I wanna escape! But... I have a friend here somewhere... He was supposed to be watching over me, but we got separated when he was attacked by some Nightmare Mantises! I hope he's ok..."

Tocsin narrowed an eye suddenly, as if he just felt a sharp pang, then asked, "Where is this... friend of yours?"

"I wish I knew... Please help me find him!" she replied.

"We will help," Tocsin said rather quickly. Goldy, getting to his feet added, "Yeah, we'll help!"

Deetria performed another shuttle loop, exclaiming, "Yaaay! Thank you!"

They moved to the door now, and it opened. They shrieked at the sight of the blue fire nearly engulfing the door and backed away, now trapped.

"CRAP!" Goldy yelled, "How do we get out now?!"

Deetria squealed, "Take hold of my tail! Gently please..."

Goldy clutched her tail with two fingers, and also held on to Tocsin's tail. Deetria's glow intensified to a burst, and she, Goldy and Tocsin were transparent. "Run!" Deetria squealed. They charged through the fire and into the corridor away from it, unharmed after passing through and into the currently safe section.

~~07~~

Deetria released another burst of energy, and the three were solid again. They stopped and looked at her, completely astonished. "What... did you just do?" Tocsin asked slowly.

"I'm a Dimension Dragon silly! I can Phase. I can shift fifty percent of my matter, as well as the matter of anyone holding me, into a pocket dimension. It makes you intangible to everything but special elements designed JUST for handling that kind of thing," she explained.

"So you're practically unhittable then!" Goldy exclaimed.

"No... Not really. It takes a second for me to use that, and I have to cool myself down after using it, so I can't switch back and forth constantly... It gets too tiring," she responded.

Tocsin and Goldy, still impressed, suddenly yelped when the fire licked at them. Another explosion was heard outside. They turned and fled from it down the corridor.

As they ran, Goldy asked, "Is your friend in another one of these cell chambers?"

"No way. His name is Thystian. He's a Power Solider, and a General! He'd sooner blow himself up than let these evil bugs capture him!" she replied.

Tocsin developed a hidden expression of annoyance at the description. In his mind, he imagined another dragon covered in gold armor with a magnificent helmet, roaring loudly, scaring away Insectids. He then shook his head, as they reached the door to this corridor, and took one look back, seeing the flames moving down toward them. They moved to the door, it opened for them, and they fled out into the next chamber.

~~08~~

Immediately stepping out, they found themselves in another branch chamber. Apparently, this building was designed with two large corridors and many smaller ones connecting them. In the outer corner was yet another massive computer system.

The group noticed at least half a dozen Termite Drones scuttling their way in the main corridor.

"Awww no," Goldy moaned, and the group backed away from them and the door.

To their surprise, the Drones, but for one, ignored them, charging into the flaming corridor, apparently to fight the fire. The one that did notice, looked at them, made a couple of clicks, then moved to go in as well. Everyone exhaled.

"Those are Termite Drones..." Deetria commented, "They fight intruders when they have nothing else to do, but most of the time they work on the building, which to them is higher priority."

"I assume we just have the Insectids to worry about then..." Tocsin replied.

Deetria nodded, then flew forward. With a surprised gasp, the two followed, even as more explosions outside could be heard.

Deetria looked around as she few, highly tempted to call out Thystian's name, but kept quiet, not wanting to draw the attention of the Insectids. Tocsin suddenly swooped in front of her, and she "eep"ed. "Hold up!" he started, "We can't just blindly search for your friend in this place. We gotta find-"

Tocsin's speech was suddenly cut off when a horrible, monstrous, silver-colored, roaring energy beam ripped into the corridor from outside. Everyone was launched back from the shockwave, then watched in terror as the beam, which very easily could have pierced clean through the entire building, blasted for a couple more seconds, before thinning out into nothing. They could then hear the sounds of great conflict from the enormous hole in the wall, leading outside. The beam was so huge it had ripped away a large portion of both the floor and ceiling in this passage. All of the lights and terminals started to flicker on and off violently.

Goldy slowly climbed to his feet, eyes wide, and Tocsin slowly drifted over, peering out to the outside.

The landscape was beautiful. "Was" indeed being the case, as it was quickly being ruined by tremendous conflict. Outside, Tocsin could see hundreds of Insectids and what looked like human soldiers wearing advanced combat armor covering their entire bodies, exchanging fire. Amidst them, an enormous variety of insect-themed droids, vehicles and aircraft moved about reciprocating fire of various types with more earth-like, yet still extremely advanced vehicles and aircraft manned by human pilots. A massive starship could be seen looming in the background, laying waste to other Insectid structures, pummeling the bizarre-looking, high-tech alien facilities with such intense laser fire it looked like it was literally raining energy on them. A cloud of death.

Tocsin could see the source of the laser that just pierced the entire building. Some kind of enormous combat mech with a vaguely humanoid appearance, wielding the biggest gun Tocsin quite likely will ever see.

By this point, Goldy and Deetria had drawn close and were watching too.

"...I wonder if that's Bios' big brother?" Goldy asked. Tocsin looked at Goldy, an eye narrowed.

"Eeee! It's gonna fire again!!" Deetria squealed.

Goldy and Tocsin looked again, and sure enough, the huge mech had moved its gun to rest on its shoulder. The barrel was starting to gather in energy again.

They looked around frantically for a way to escape. Goldy, looking down, saw they could jump through the enormous hole in the floor to the level below them. "Quick!" he shouted, "Down to the lower level!"

He jumped, and Tocsin and Deetria followed.

The huge mech aimed its gun slightly to the left, before firing. The recoil caused it to jolt back slightly, as the stupendous beam blazed forward. The mech slowly swept it to the side, ripping incredible portions of the Barracks away.

Below, Goldy dropped down onto his front and covered his head, eyes closed, as the building shook violently. Tocsin landed, laying flat on the ground, but widened his eyes when Deetria, terrified, stuffed her head under one of his wings. He looked at her as she shook, and slowly narrowed his eyes, a look of serious determination taking over.

~~09~~

This corridor still had a portion of its ceiling left, and somehow the power was still on. The colored lights here appeared to be a pleasant blue, though by now every electronic system was flickering crazily. The huge mech apparently could not keep its gun perfectly steady, as some sections of the ceiling in this chamber were ripped away while others remained, suggesting a very slightly unsteady upward/downward movement of the gun.

Once the beam, and the shaking, stopped, Goldy slowly uncovered his head, and sat up, looking around. Tocsin yelled in surprise as Goldy was shot in the side of the head by a pink helix shot. He cried out, fell back, and seethed in pain, before scrambling to his feet, burned by the attack. Fortunately, being a dragon, the attack failed to do as much damage to him as it could have done to a human or at least an unarmored being.

He, Tocsin and Deetria looked down the corridor, to see all of five Insectids, heavily armed and armored, charging toward them. One in the front rushed forward quickly, then stopped, knelt, and mounted to his shoulder some kind of launcher, before firing it. The sound of five shots were heard, all within the time of a single second.

Out screamed a volley of five narrow, purple missiles with vicious needle-sharp tips. Goldy cried out, and he, Tocsin and Deetria rushed as fast as they could away from the erratically flying missiles.

Tocsin and Deetria suddenly shot off in different directions to the sides. Goldy lunged forward and landed on his belly. The missiles spread up, two chasing Tocsin, two chasing Goldy, and one chasing Deetria.

Tocsin performed a quick loop, causing the missiles to fly past him. They quickly began to turn around. Tocsin, eyes narrowed, suddenly inhaled, before blasting out intense white flames. The missiles exploded on contact.

Deetria, squealing in fear, flew erratically around the area, the missile in hot pursuit. As she fled, she heard a strange buzzing noise join in the sound of the screaming missile. Out from a gap in the ceiling dove a large Death Hornet, a huge, vicious, yellow and black hornet droid. Unfortunately, it flew right into her path. Deetria swerved to the side at the last second with a squeak. The purple missile slammed into the droid, both going up in a blast. Deetria looked back, then up, seeing three more Death Hornets, and also spotted at the other end of the gap, an insane-looking, gigantic mechanical Mantis. A Nightmare Mantis, it was shrouded in dark colors. It screeched at her, before its wings opened out, and it joined the Death Hornets in swooping. Deetria screamed in a pitch no human could hear, before fleeing.

Goldy was simply blasted by the missiles, and launched forward, smoke trailing from the back half of his body as he landed and slid along the ground. He groaned, slowly getting to his feet.

The Insectids, at the sight of this, developed looks of complete and utter shock. One Insectid shouted at the launcher user, who shouted something back, and the exchange continued for a second, before another interrupted them to point at the group. Goldy, Tocsin and Deetria were fleeing from the bug droids, and bailed into the nearest corridor. The pointing Insectid shouted something, giving a "GO GO GO" gesture, and they charged after the three, joining their insect droids in the pursuit.

~~10~~

As soon as they passed through the doorway, things got peaceful. The door shut behind them, and the terminals were not flickering here. They slowed their run a bit, but Goldy fell over when the short-lived moment of peace came to an abrupt end as another roaring blast ensued above them. Apparently the huge mech was firing its gun again. Goldy got to his feet, but staggered around from the shaking. All of the electronic systems and lighting again began to flicker. A violent spark was heard from the door. The terminal powering it cut off. The group then heard a deep groaning noise. A massive crack grew across the ceiling of the corridor.

Goldy watched it, then slowly began to start running to the other side of the corridor.

"Don't those people know they've got friends in here?!" Tocsin shouted.

"They know what these buildings can take! They're not gonna blow it up with friends inside!" Deetria replied, trying to defend the noble faction.

Tocsin, irritated, continued to fly beside Deetria and next to Goldy down the corridor. Loud banging and scraping could be heard from the door back behind them. They stopped and looked back. They watched with horror as two sickle-like limbs punctured the door, and began to rip it out of its space.

They resumed running, and reached the other end, only for the door to refuse them access. The power panel operating it fizzled slightly.

"...Trapped..." Goldy slowly uttered.

Deetria, terrified, hid behind Tocsin as the Insectids' machines ripped the door away completely at the other end. The Death Hornets and Nightmare Mantis entered and moved down the corridor at them, while the Insectids fired at them from behind the droids.

With yelps and shrieks, Goldy, Tocsin and Deetria avoided the incoming projectiles, but the Hornets were drawing close quickly.

"STAND AND FIGHT!!" Tocsin suddenly shouted.

Goldy narrowed his eyes. "Yeah! No more running! Let's show them what Dragons can do!" Goldy shouted.

The two inhaled, and blasted powerful flames out at the enemies that drew near.

The Death Hornets backed away quickly from the flames, while the Nightmare Mantis hunched slightly, crossing its scythe-limbs in front of it, and generated an energy shield that dispelled the flames on contact.

"...Well that didn't work..." a now dismayed Goldy stated.

Tocsin grunted in anger. Deetria shivered. A heavy slamming sound echoed from the ceiling in front of them, huge cracks spreading from the center. The Nightmare Mantis scuttled forward, emitting a bizarre chittering sound, and raised a claw to land a death blow.

There was a massive slamming sound just before the attack. The ceiling collapsed down on the mantis, completely crushing it. It emitted a harsh squeal, which waned to a stop, and its spread limbs twitched before going limp.

There, standing on the chunk of ceiling, was a man. Kneeling at the moment, he then slowly stood up.

Once standing, he quite easily reached the height of six feet and four inches. From head to toe he was wearing a completely full-body suit of glorious, shining, purple, supertech armor, bearing green highlights in many places. Apparently form-fitting, it showed that he had a lean, muscular, powerful body. His face was hidden by a large helmet, the front of which displayed a curious, horizontally-superior oval icon with four curving branches. This icon glowed a deep green, and looked very much like a spiral galaxy. All along the top center of his helmet, a large backward curving comb of green metal, all one solid piece, and definitely looking like a mohawk, was present.

In his left hand was the biggest mallet Goldy or Tocsin had ever seen. Its handle was black, and ended with a bowl-like formation, while attached at the head was a massive silver, symmetrical hammerhead. The hammerhead's sides, top and bottom were dotted with gems and jewels and what looked like mysterious runes were etched in every open space on the hammer and its handle, but for the hammerhead's striking points. The striking points themselves bore the same spiral galaxy symbol that was on his helmet's face.

Goldy and Tocsin's eyes widened, while Deetria squealed, this time not in fear, but in delight.

The Death Hornets charged in for their attacks, only for the man to swing his mallet as if it weighed nothing, slamming the first Hornet, then the second, then the third, in one swing, and crushing all three against a wall, causing three compressed blasts.

The Insectids at the end of the corridor shrieked, and opened fire on the man. Their shots impacted with his armor. He jolted slightly, but nothing more.

He quickly put his mallet behind him, and it somehow disappeared, before being replaced in his hand by the biggest bow Goldy or Tocsin had ever seen. It was easily as long as the man was tall, also of deep purple color, and again dotted with gems and jewels, while the open spaces were etched with runes. The bow was made of some kind of alien metal, and curled in at its two ends. The string was a fine green color. The man aimed it forward, loading three vicious looking arrows, drew the bow back, ignoring the hits he was taking from the Insectids, and fired the weapon.

The three arrows flew forward super-fast, and struck right into the faces of three of the five Insectids, killing them instantly. The next second, the arrows exploded, destroying the bodies of the slain, and slamming the two remaining Insectids against the walls, killing them as well. They slumped to the ground, bleeding a strange yellow fluid.

The man suddenly swung around, aiming an armed arrow at Goldy.

"WHOA WHOA WHOA!!!" Goldy screamed, "NO ENEMY! NO SHOOTY!!"

Goldy held his hands out, waving them frantically in fear. Deetria squealed, "Thystian!!"

Thystian undrew the arrow, and Deetria swooped over and flew circles around his head for a minute, before floating in front of him. "I was so worried!" she exclaimed.

Thystian responded, in a soft, kind, male voice, projected from his helmet, "You were worried? What about me? If I hadn't found you..." Tocsin waited for it. "I'd be in serious trouble."

Tocsin blinked, then looked at Goldy, who was currently clutching his chest with a hand, making "herk" noises. He looked back, and seemed to exhale.

Deetria giggled, and spoke, "Well fortunately for me, my new friends here saved me!"

"Hmm... New friends eh?" Thystian spoke as he stepped forward and knelt to look at Goldy eye-to-eye.

By now Goldy had stopped with the pretend heart attack, and looked at Thystian. They were silent, before Thystian grabbed Goldy's hand and shook it. "Well I thank ya, friend!" Thystian spoke in a slightly comical tone.

Goldy chuckled, scratching the back of his head. Thystian looked at Tocsin, and spoke, "And who is this pretty little thing."

Tocsin developed a mortified look, and spoke, putting emphasis into the tone of his male voice, "I am Tocsin."

Thystian responded, "Ahh... Sorry about that. It's hard to tell what gender you are just by looking. My scans are telling me that now. I guess little Deetria here has already told you about me?"

"Kinda..." Goldy replied, "But we've been too busy running in terror to talk much."

Thystian stood up, developing an aura of seriousness, and spoke, "Yes... I see that. We must escape this place as quickly as possible. It won't withstand much more abuse..."

The others couldn't agree more. As if on cue, another structure-throttling explosion rocked, and the power at last died. The chamber went pitch dark, but for the glows emitting from Tocsin's and Deetria's bodies, and the glowing points on Thystian's armor. At the same time, the enormous crack in the ceiling gave way, causing a collapse into the corridor and blocking the path back. Faint light emitted from the holes in the ceiling, so the group could still see at least.

"The door's jammed..." Goldy stated.

"Step back," Thystian commanded, and they quickly complied. They got behind Thystian as he switched back to his mallet and walked up to the door. With a yell, he slammed his mallet into the door, completely blowing it out of its slot, opening the way into the corridor in front.

Goldy and Deetria cheered, and followed, as did Tocsin, though silently.

~~11~~

When the group charged into the big corridor on the other side, they could see a conflict engaged. Large chunks of the ceiling were ripped away, letting in outside light, and allowing the group to see that a pair of strange pods had breached into the side of the building, and a dozen or so Nebula Soldiers were in ferocious confrontation with the Insectids here.

Thystian stood before the dragons with him, and gestured for them to stay put. The group observed as the conflict raged.

The Nebula Soldiers were armed with a variety of gun-type weapons. Some had large hand-held cannons that could rapidly spray lasers of silver, while others had simple rifles. One also had what appeared to be a very high-tech grenade launcher. Standing in the back of the group was a less armored female unit that appeared to have two knees per leg, and rabbit ears. She was wielding some kind of energy rod. While the Nebula Soldiers fought with their weapons, the female unit was generating a swarm of gently undulating tendrils of pure white energy, which flowed into the Nebula Soldiers. The group noticed that whenever a soldier was shot even by an attack that seemed fatal, his wound extremely quickly cleared up.

The Insectids on the other side were armed with their Helix guns, and one had another purple missile launcher. The launcher was taking aim, but was suddenly shot in the face by a laser blast, and flopped to the ground. Another Insectid with a different weapon fired a shot from an exceedingly long gun and struck a soldier in the head, bringing him down. The tendril of energy reaching into him shattered, and the female soldier cried out.

Thystian quickly and quietly began to lead Deetria, Goldy and Tocsin away from this fight, toward the other end of the corridor, and into the cube-shaped section at the end.

Thystian began to approach the huge computer system, when the door entering into the section burst open, and a Termite Drone charged out, emitting a shriek. It raced headlong at Goldy, who only had time to look at it, before he cried out as the Droid clamped its energy pincers on him, and lifted him up. He screamed in pain as the droid tried to snip him in two.

"GOLDY!! ARGH!!" Tocsin yelled. He swooped around and began blazing flames onto the Termite Drone.

At the same time, Thystian proceeded to toss his mallet up into the air over the drone's head. He suddenly leapt up with incredible speed to snatch his weapon mid-air, and brought it down, using the force of his weight to amplify the power. With an incredible slam, the Termite Drone's head was smashed to pieces, and the body roasted by Tocsin's flames, before it exploded.

Goldy groaned and climbed free from the destroyed droid's pincers. "You ok?" Thystian asked.

Goldy looked at himself, still recovering from the squeeze, and said, "I wanted to lose some weight, but not like THAT."

Thystian chuckled, as he took a strange device out of his apparently hidden personal inventory, and planted it on the terminal. Tocsin, Deetria and Goldy observed, and Thystian pressed a button on the device, before turning and running away to the other corner of the section. Not even needing to be told, the group followed, recognizing what he was doing.

"Do NOT look into the blast," Thystian ordered. They nodded and looked away.

A high-pitched, rapid beeping ensued, and a tremendous explosion roared forth, shaking the building. Once it had cleared, they saw that Thystian's bomb had completely blown the wall and a section of floor, not to mention the computer system, completely away.

"...Bluey would kill to get his hands on some of those explosives," Goldy remarked.

"I take it this 'Bluey' is a bomb fanatic?" Thystian inquired.

Goldy and Tocsin looked at each other, before looking back, and Goldy answered, "You could say that..."

The group drew near to the gaping hole. They could see there was only minimal conflict on the land below outside. However, they noticed some kind of huge hovercraft in the distance, wielding a massive rocket, pointed straight up at the moment. It launched the rocket, which rose slowly, turned, and dove toward the Barracks.

"OUT! NOW!" Thystian yelled, before leaping out of the Barracks.

Goldy jumped too, and Tocsin and Deetria swooped out to follow. Thystian landed with a heavy thud, but stood upright quickly. Goldy landed, slowing his fall enough to prevent pain, and Tocsin and Deetria kept up easily. Once they landed, they ran away from the structure as fast as they could manage. Tocsin looked back, now taking in the full scope of just how big the building they'd been running around in was. He also noticed that the breaching Shrikes used by the soldiers they'd watched fighting the Insectids were now pulling out. Apparently, and fortunately, the troops within got word of the strike, and evacuated in time.

The group got to a safe distance, and jumped into a crater in the ground. They peeked out, and watched as the breaching Shrikes zoomed away just before the huge rocket crashed into the building.

Everything fell silent, before a ground-rocking explosion ensued from the building, releasing a mushroom cloud into the sky. Humongous parts of the structure flew off in different directions.

Thystian turned, and slumped down into a sitting position in the crater, as did Goldy. Tocsin and Deetria floated, looking at each other. All four exhaled.

END

Dragon Tails © Tim Dawson

Wenonah Galaxy © Adrian Smith


	3. 03: Death Bugs

Roseus Elementeus

Chapter Three – Death Bugs

The danger had been averted, for now. Thystian and Goldy, sitting partially slumped in the crater, took a moment to breathe. Tocsin watched as Deetria peeked over the rim of the crater, looking at the now ruined Insectid Barracks. "That explosion was huge!" she squealed.

"Those high-trajectory rockets are designed for building destruction," Thystian commented, "Terrible at moving targets though."

"Unless the target is as big as that?" Goldy asked, pointing to the huge starship looming in the sky in the distance.

"Yeah, I suppose. Fortunately that thing's on our side," Thystian replied.

But the safety of the crater was short-lived, as a large chunk of the destroyed barracks crashed down right next to the crater, causing Deetria to shriek and practically warp behind Goldy. The huge, flaming, molten metal building piece slowly tilted to fall into the crater.

With a yell, Thystian grabbed Goldy and threw him out of the crater, before leaping out with all his might. Goldy yelped at being thrown, and landed belly down in the dirt. Tocsin and Deetria fled with Thystian. They looked back as they flew, witnessing the building part slowly flop into the crater.

Goldy scrambled to his feet, and followed Thystian as he fled to another possible safe place to rest for the moment. As they moved however, they could hear a swarm of purple missiles screaming toward them. Thystian looked in the sound's direction, and saw an Insectid soldier wearing a hoverpack of some sort, that granted it amazing aerial agility. "Friggen Aerotroopers!" Thystian yelled, as he dove out of the way of the missiles, which crashed to the ground in a series of explosions. Goldy too had to dodge a missile, ducking very suddenly, letting it pass over his head.

Thystian rolled along the ground, drawing his bow the second he stopped moving. Laying on his side, an arrow taut, he fired the projectile. It glowed a mysterious yellow color. The Aerotrooper tried to swoop to the side to avoid, but the arrow was relentless. It turned immediately and penetrated the airborne bug's chest, before releasing a powerful electrical blast. The Aerotrooper's hoverpack detonated, launching him forward and plunging him into the ground.

Goldy caught up to Thystian, helped him to his feet, and the four rushed onward. Thystian pointed ahead at what looked like a hovertank of the Nebula's. It had been struck by heavy Insectid artillery. Destroyed, it was laying sideways, severely charred and still releasing some smoke. Beside it was a large tree with very pretty pink flowers. It was amazing that the tree had survived the conflict where many others had not. "Behind that!" Thystian shouted.

They dove behind the tank as another explosion, likely from artillery, churned up a blast in the ground near their position.

All around them, they could the sounds of conflict as they settled into this spot. Thystian looked around quickly to make sure there were no enemies in sight, before he calmed a bit, then slowly sat, legs crossed. Goldy took a seat with his back to the underside of the tank, while Tocsin floated near Goldy's head with Deetria next to Tocsin.

"Now that we have a moment..." Thystian started, "I'd like to do some information sharing, since none of us know anything about each other."

"Good idea," Tocsin acknowledged.

"Ironically, despite that running around we did, I never managed to get your name..." Thystian said, to Goldy.

"Ah, I guess I was just so surprised from your dramatic appearance that I forgot. I'm Goldy," he responded.

"Heh, guess I could have guessed that," Thystian chuckled. Goldy rolled his eyes. Thystian continued, "But yeah, I suppose my name isn't all that original either, what with all the purples on me."

"Why is that anyway?" Tocsin asked.

"Purple is the color of highest rank, as well as a strength amplifier in armor and weapons. When imbued with special kinds of Amethyst, armor and weapons like mine gain dramatic boosts to overall power," Thystian explained.

"Interesting. I take it this special Amethyst is not of Earthly origin." Tocsin stated.

"That's correct. Anyway, as you may know, I am Thystian. I am a General of NeoSPGXA, an ally faction of The Nebula," Thystian continued.

"'SPGXA'? Acronymic names are odd. Yet... somehow it has a ring to it," Goldy commented, "What does it stand for?"

Thystian shook his head slowly as he replied, "It's original name is in another language, and it translates to the really cumbersome 'Surreal Paramount Genial Xeno-Assemblage'..."

Goldy staggered as he sat, and Thystian nodded at this reaction, as he said, "Yeah, that's why we just refer to it as 'SPGXA'."

Tocsin was beginning to lose interest, and looked at Deetria, who was watching the conversation with cute innocence. Tocsin's expression softened slightly. He drifted closer to her.

Goldy and Thystian continued to converse. "Tocsin and I are from Earth. We live in a forest, and I have seven other brothers. And then there's our friends," Goldy explained. Thystian listened with interest as Goldy continued, "Enigma's the name of our older brother. He's got a serious tough-love attitude, but when things get tough, he can really lead us to success. Bluey's my twin brother, and a bit of a maniac mechanic. He's why we're here... He built some kind of machine he called... uhh... Dimension Fluctation Manographier or something... 'Diflum' something. I don't remember! Anyway, his inventions have a tendency to blow up in his face, and that thing did just that. It made a monster vortex and sucked me and Tocsin in. We ended up in that barracks, and now we're here. Alive, thanks to you I might add."

Thystian chuckled, nodded, and replied, "Interesting. Ahh, the hazards of Dimensional Travel. It's actually a pretty common thing for us Wenonaens."

Tocsin, meanwhile, drew a little closer to Deetria, before speaking, "So, Deetria, you're... a Dimension Dragon you said?"

"Yep!" She piped, "I'm from planet Shiko, the planet of all things pink. Hee hee."

"Might explain your color then," Tocsin joked lightly.

"Hee. Yeah, I like being pink. But what about you? Are you a Dimension Dragon too? If you are, you must be an albino. I've never seen a white one before," she chattered.

"I... um... No, I'm not a Dimension Dragon. It's kinda hard to explain... I'm something of a machine... I was spawned from an orb and through the fire of one of Goldy's brother's flames," Tocsin said, worried she might be confused.

"Ah! So you're a Plasma Dragon then!" she responded, surprising Tocsin with her intelligence. Apparently her cute, innocent demeanor belied a vaster intelligence than he gave her credit for.

"Yeah, I guess. I'm wondering though..." Tocsin started, his words fading.

Deetria drew her head a little closer. "Yes?"

"Er, I was just wondering how you and Thystian work together," Tocsin asked. He waited once again for her to flip out at a weird question.

"Ahh we're just friends. Daddy asked him to watch over me when I wanted to go do some exploring. Then Thystian started taking me on his mission, and we got separated... He's a great man, but sometimes he makes odd mistakes," she answered. Apparently her innocence kept her from thinking too deeply about these curious questions.

Tocsin nodded, then looked to the side. Deetria peered yet closer. She could tell something was on his mind at least. "You wanna ask something else?" she squeaked.

"Uhh... Well I was wondering, you called me an albino. Do you like... my... whiteness?" he asked. '_Dragon that was a stupid question..._' he thought.

He flinched when she brought her face that much closer, and replied, "Aww. You're very pretty. But it's not your whiteness, as much as its this warmth I feel from you."

She giggled and nuzzled Tocsin, catching him off guard, before she did multiple shuttle loops in the air, flew up into the tree, and disappeared amongst its foliage. She peeked out at him and giggled again, before she started inspecting the flowers there. Tocsin was in shock again.

Thystian and Goldy, meanwhile continued. "You obviously want to get home, right?" Thystian asked.

"Yeah, kinda," Goldy said, not actually entirely sure.

"Well, I may be able to help you with that," Thystian stated, "My Mothership has some very advanced technology that could easily get you back to Earth."

"Really?!" Goldy exclaimed, eager to hear. This also caught Tocsin's attention, and he looked back at them.

"Yeah, but... There's a hitch..." Thystian said, waiting to see how Goldy would react.

"Yeah, I'm not surprised... What is it?" Goldy inquired.

Thystian explained, "Before this whole mess with rescuing Deetria started, I had been assigned a mission by my commander, Savanna, the commander of NeoSPGXA. We're currently in need of six vital elements that can only be found on the planets of this Solar System. That's why I was here, in fact, as one of them is here."

"How is that a hitch?" Tocsin inquired.

Thystian resumed, "Well... Savanna's a tad on the hardcore side. She's rigid about rules she set up herself, and I highly doubt she'd be willing to use some of our resources to send you home unless you gave her a good reason..."

"And I take it that reason would be helping you?" Tocsin asked, looking up at Deetria as she flitted about the tree.

"Yeah... I have yet to get any of the six elements. And actually I could use a little help. I have to travel to different planets to get them, and the more people I have helping me, the better my chances," he answered.

"This, despite the fact you smooshed those bugs with ease?" Goldy inquired.

"Insectids are pushovers. Most of the time anyway... They like to make you think they're a lot tougher than they actually are, but more often than not, they fall to the side compared to some of the threats we may encounter. I'll do my best to protect you, but I can't guarantee anything," Thystian finished.

Goldy and Tocsin looked at each other. Goldy spoke, "Well... I suppose we aren't really in that big a hurry to get home, are we?"

Tocsin answered, "Nah. Remember what you said back in that building? We've just started our own adventure. Might as well see it through."

"Then it's settled," Goldy acknowledged, before looking at Thystian and continuing, "We'll go along and help."

They couldn't see it, but Thystian smiled warmly within his helmet, and he said, "I am glad to hear that."

Their conversation was interrupted by a frightened squeal from Deetria. They looked at her. She was looking out of the tree at the top of the tank. Their heads turned that way. Perched there, was a really large Mantis Mech. Not a Nightmare Mantis, this one was larger and had red markings.

Thystian grunted as he jolted to the side to avoid a swipe from the mech's claws. "Be careful!" he announced, "That's a Crimson Mantis! It's a lot tougher than that black one you saw before. It's resistant to fire!"

"Yeah well... our fire didn't work well on the first one either..." Goldy muttered.

Thystian rolled away from the swipes of the Mantis. Goldy and Tocsin got behind the tree for safety.

Thystian drew his mallet, and swung it fiercely at the Crimson Mantis. The large mech however, was able to clutch his mallet with its claws, and yanked. Thystian, his grip strong on the mallet's handle, was yanked forward and slammed into the mech. It staggered back from hitting itself in such a manner, before slashing at Thystian. With a vicious burst of energy, Thystian took the blow and grunted. The next second he kicked the Mantis in the head. The machine's head jolted upright from the strike. It opened its wings, and began beating them, which generated a powerful current of wind. Thystian was pushed back by this wind, and struggled against it. The Mantis added intense heat to the wind, and Thystian jumped to the side to avoid it. The heat was so powerful it ignited the tree the dragons were hiding behind. They shrieked and fled the fire. Deetria squealed in dismay. Leaving the foliage, she looked back. Once safe, her eyes became teary at the sight of the pretty flowers being burned up. She started to cry. Tocsin's eyes narrowed. He watched as Thystian shot the Mantis in the head with an arrow that exploded on impact. The Mantis' head was half destroyed, but the droid continued to fight, as it hopped forward and slashed fiercely with its claws. Thystian performed a backflip to evade. He shot at the Mantis again, but the large insect droid struck the arrow out of the air with a claw. Tocsin surprised the droid by slamming into it, in plasma ball form. The droid staggered to the side, and looked at Tocsin with its remaining eye. The next second, Thystian came down on it with his mallet, smashing its body unit severely. The droid emitted a horrible shriek, before the remainder of its head exploded. It slumped to the ground, destroyed.

Deetria, looking at the burning tree, continued to cry. Goldy held out a hand to take her gently, and tried to comfort her. "It'll be ok Deetria... Plants grow back," Goldy said softly.

Deetria nodded, sniffling. She glanced at Tocsin, who was watching quietly, then looked at Thystian as he began to speak, pointing, "There is our destination."

The group turned, and could see a creepy-looking structure. It had the appearance of an extremely tall cone, with two shorter cones standing at its sides, partially fused to it. The building had three strange, yet likely massive orbs floating just above the peaks of the three cones.

"That is the Insectid Science Facility. We have to get in there and locate the first element I need," he finished.

"So we're raiding the place. Sounds fun," Tocsin said, floating up to Thystian's head height.

Thystian nodded. He drew his hammer again, before quickly rushing out into the open battlefield, toward the Science Facility. Goldy ran as fast as he could to keep up, while Tocsin and a still slightly bleary-eyed Deetria followed.

~~01~~

At about a third of the way to the facility, Thystian noticed a pair of enormous Scorpion droids in their path ahead. He readied his mallet, and Tocsin narrowed his eyes. As soon as they drew near, one of the scorpions lashed its tail out at Thystian, who deflected the blow with a swing of his mallet. Tocsin swerved upward over the other Scorpion and blasted flames down on it, causing it to panic and try to put out the fires. Thystian smashed the first scorpion in the head with his mallet, destroying its vision unit. He leapt over it to continue, while Tocsin and Deetria followed. Goldy scrambled by between the droids. The blinded Scorpion continuously stabbed at the air with its stinger, turning as it did. It ended up stabbing its burning partner. The strike caused it to explode, and at the same time the burning scorpion stabbed back with its stinger.

As the group closed in on the facility, a large Moth-shaped aircraft swooped by them, overhead. Six Insectid soldiers in red armor jumped out, and began shooting at them. Three had Helix Guns, two had Laser Sniper Rifles, and one had a single, strange gun that fired off a steady beam of green energy that generated rings around itself.

Thystian, surprising everyone present, flung his mallet at the Insectid using the beam cannon. The impact was incredible; the Insectid was blown apart on the spot. The group was doubly shocked when the mallet then returned to Thystian, who caught it with ease. Stunned by this deadly display of a powerful projectile, the Insectids ceased firing for the moment. One even turned and fled. Tocsin swooped upon the Insectids and blazed his plasma flames upon them. They started screaming and ran around, two of them running into each other. Thystian's group continued onward.

Right out front, they were stopped once more, this time by a potentially deadly obstacle. Out of a large hole in the ground climbed a simply huge mechanical centipede. It raised the front of its body into the air, with the rest of its body still trailing down into the hole, and its many legs kicked. The monstrous machine emitted clicking noises. Its long, graceful antennae sparked with electricity. Acid oozed from its mandible section.

Everyone stopped. Goldy's jaw fell slack. "...How are we supposed to FIGHT that thing?!" he exclaimed.

"Carefully!" Thystian replied, almost sarcastically. He flung his mallet at the head of the huge centipede droid, and stood straight when the droid caught his weapon. Thystian typed something on a device on the back of his right arm. The Mallet released a powerful explosion, thrusting the head of the centipede against the wall of the building with a heavy thud, and leaving a huge dent in the wall. It slammed to the ground. Thystian had by now caught the mallet. Deetria, surprising everyone, squealed, releasing strange chromatic energy rings at the Centipede. Its whole form distorted slightly for a moment, before several explosions occurred randomly on its body.

"...What was that?" Tocsin asked, surprised to see the innocent little Deetria could fight.

She giggled, replying, "Status Waves! They damage only a little, but they cause a random thing to happen to my enemy! It's all I've got..."

"With a little training, that kind of move could go a long way..." Goldy commented.

The centipede jolted from the random blasts, before it rose up again, emitting a snarling noise. It's curled antennae unfurled, before transmitting a bolt of electricity between themselves. An orb of electricity formed in the center, and rapidly began to release electrical strikes at the group. Unready, Thystian was struck, and knocked onto his back. Goldy was also struck, and flew quite some distance with a howl. Tocsin swooped and swerved to avoid bolts, then witnessed Deetria being struck by a bolt. If he had had a jaw, it'd likely fall slack at the fact that she didn't even flinch, but instead giggled. "Immune to electricity?!" he exclaimed.

Deetria again used her Status Waves. The Centipede distorted slightly upon taking the hit, before suddenly freezing in place, electricity crackling over its whole body. "YAA!!" Deetria shrieked, "I locked it down!!"

Thystian exclaimed, "BRILLIANT! Attack full force!"

Goldy, who had since recovered, albeit a bit charred, rushed in with the group to pummel the machine. Tocsin and Goldy bathed it in flames, while Thystian shot its head continuously. One of his arrows entered its mouth, and the ensuing blast wiped the large droid out. Its body flailed in the air, headless, before slamming into the ground, and twitching once.

Everyone gathered around Deetria, thanking her for her support.

"I hope you keep using that attack!" Thystian exclaimed.

Deetria seemed to blush just a bit at all the positive attention. "Now..." Thystian said, shifting moods again, "Onward!"

He rushed to the front entrance of the facility, and struck the door with his mallet, destroying it completely. He and his teammates rushed inside.

~~02~~

The facility's internals were just as symmetrical as any other Insectid station. Perhaps the only thing to be seen as non-symmetrical, was a gigantic, spike-bearing, deep green-glowing crystal in the center of the facility. This crystal, as it sat in the ground, took up a large portion of the floor space, and continued up through the ceiling of the entry area. Its base was surrounded by an energy-based guard rail. The crystal hummed steadily. As for the rest of the facility, it consisted almost entirely of a circular, open chamber built around the crystal. In this first floor, there were three doors on the back of the chamber behind the crystal, with a split-center design, shimmering green panels above them. Perhaps it was the same kind of motion-detection system seen in the Barracks. On the left and right sides of this large chamber were also four doors, for a total of eight. The two center doors had a split-center design, but had a single mini-panel between them with the elevator symbols on it. The two outer doors were flat panels. They had control panels next to them, requiring access codes.

Thystian's group didn't have much time to notice this. As they charged up the stairs at the opening section, they were spotted by four Insectids wearing white armor, bearing unusual masks and carrying the same kind of beam cannon the group saw earlier. The Insectids shrieked, before opening fire, one beam at each member of Thystian's group.

Thystian rolled to avoid, flipped to his feet and ran to the side from the beam. Judging by his extensive evasion, the beams were highly dangerous. As such, Goldy, Tocsin and Deetria made just as much effort as Thystian did, to avoid them.

The Insectid Science Soldiers could not keep the guns firing constantly however, and had to stop long enough for them to cool off. Thystian immediately leapt toward them, hammer raised, to slam it down. He crushed one of the Science Soldiers, the other three scattering. Goldy jumped in front of one, and blasted out flames, roasting the enemy on the spot. The two remaining Insectids fled to a locked door on the right side of the chamber, applied a code to the panel, and escaped through the door, which shut and locked behind them.

Thystian slowly stood up, and put away his hammer. The group rallied by him, and Goldy spoke, "You were right about them being pushovers. I kinda wish we had Enigma with us though. He'd make short work of everything we ran into."

"I'll have to meet him some day," Thystian responded.

Then the group looked out at the crystal. Massive, glowing, humming, the gigantic crystalline formation was quite a sight for them to take in as they stood there.

"Pretty..." Deetria said with a cute tone. Tocsin glanced at her.

"Yet such a problem," Thystian added.

Goldy looked at him as he asked, "What is it?"

Thystian stepped forward, and the group followed. They all stopped at the energy guard railing. As they did all this Thystian explained, "This is a 'shard' of Sperciite crystal. A powerful crystal, it produces enormous dimensional wavelengths, which the Insectids use to power a lot of their more unusual machines. It's only found in the enigmatic Wenonaen sector of Interspercia, a strange solar system that seems able to relocate itself to other areas of the Galaxy at random. These things have a sort of gravity effect on portals, vortexes and other dimensional-transit methods. I have a feeling it might be why you two ended up here."

Tocsin and Goldy looked at each other, before Goldy said, "Yeah?"

"It bends portal passages in its general direction. You probably ended up in that Barracks because this thing bent your portal passage this way," Thystian finished.

"Hmm... Sounds to me like this thing's more trouble than its worth," Tocsin commented, "Think we should destroy it?"

"How could you destroy something that big?!" Deetria exclaimed.

"Well... That might be a good idea. If we're going to do inter-planetary travel, it might be wise to get rid of this thing to keep us from ending up where we don't want to be. It'd destroy this facility too though, so we'd need to time it after I manage to get the element I'm after. My bombs are powerful, but so is this thing. If we're gonna destroy it, I'm gonna need to plant a bomb on all seven sections of this crystal. That means we'd have to climb the entire facility floor by floor to do it," Thystian stated.

Everyone was silent for the moment. A massive task. However, Goldy spoke up, "Well we don't have anything else to do. And you gotta look everywhere for that 'element' you need anyway, right?"

Thystian nodded. Deetria spoke, "It'll be sad to see a pretty thing like this get blown up, but... it does kinda give me the creeps. I say we do it."

"And I agree," Tocsin added.

"Alright then. Boom boom goes the bad crystal," Thystian said, hopping over the railing and walking over to it.

He proceeded to set a charge on the crystal, hiding it behind a branching spike. He pressed a couple of buttons, and the charge disappeared from view. It would seem that Thystian's bombs had a cloaking feature. He returned to the group. Goldy asked, "What is the 'element' you need here anyway?"

"Marium Amethyst," Thystian explained, "It's not like Earth Amethyst. It has a more powerful shade of purple, is totally unique to this planet, Mara Seven, and carries unique properties, some of which improve the performance of machines when equipped to them."

"So we're looking for a floor that focuses on earth science then..." Tocsin speculated.

Thystian acknowledged, "That we are. Let's get going."

~~03~~

Leading the group, Thystian marched around the crystal, heading to the rooms in the back section. Ahead however stood a Termite Drone, its back turned to them. As the large droid turned around, Thystian drew his mallet. Instead of large energy pincers however, it had some kind of nozzle. With incredible force, it sprayed a blast of acid at the group. Everyone launched themselves in random directions to avoid. Goldy watched in terror as the acid ate away at the floor right by his feet. Thystian, getting up, flung his mallet. The Droid sprayed more acid, which washed over the hammer, yet failed to have any effect on it. The immense projectile wrecked the droid with a powerful impact.

Deetria floated a bit back from the group, observing. The sound of a door opening was heard, and she looked back to see three Insectid Science Soldiers charge out from one of the side-section doors. They immediately began to fling bottles of some sort, bearing a red fluid, at the group. Deetria squeaked in fear, but was unable to avoid as a bottle exploded right in her face, throwing her back and to the floor.

Tocsin's eyes widened, then narrowed tightly in quick succession. He snarled audibly. He fired off from himself a white orb that sped toward the Science Soldiers. They were unable to react in time as the orb reached them, and went off in a tremendous plasma explosion. Combined with their cashe of explosive potions, the blast was multiplied and the Insectids were obliterated.

Deetria witnessed this rage-filled counter attack. She looked at Tocsin, surprised at first, though her expression softened as she developed a charmed look. Tocsin, Goldy and Thystian then gathered around her quickly. Thystian picked her up. "Deetria! Are you alright?!" he yelled.

"Yes... It's just a little burn. I'll be ok..." she replied, still looking at Tocsin. Tocsin returned the look.

Deetria returned to the air, and started to drift toward Tocsin, but Thystian spoke, "Judging by the acid and bombs, this must be the Chemistry floor. Marium Amethyst won't be found here. To the elevator!"

He headed toward the elevator the Insectids themselves had exited from, and Goldy and Tocsin followed. Deetria sputtered slightly, coming to her senses, then whined and followed.

Once inside the elevator, Thystian looked at the terminal. Goldy grumbled, "I hope you can read it..."

"I can. I have a translator in my suit's internal systems," Thystian replied. He pressed a symbol on the screen, the elevator door shut, and it moved up to the next floor.

Deetria watched Tocsin for the duration of the ride, while he watched the symbol on the display over the door change.

~~04~~

Once the lift had stopped, the door opened and the group stepped out. The color theme of this floor was a particular shade of yellow. The round main chamber was just a bit smaller than the previous floor, and had three more doors to the group's left, which would be the front of the building. Thystian approached the crystal, which again had railing around it, but also had some kind of energy field blocking it.

"Blast..." Thystian uttered, "The Insectids must already be aware of my bombing plan..."

"Can they remove any of the bombs you plant?" Goldy asked.

"If they can find them, yeah, but finding my cloaked bombs would take too long. We'll get this done before they can succeed. ...Ah. My scans tell me this shield is powered by a terminal somewhere in one of the side labs. We need to split up and check the two groups of three rooms. If you find the terminal, destroy it," Thystian announced.

"Got it," Goldy and Tocsin responded in unison. They headed off to the group of rooms on the left. Deetria kept watching Tocsin, until Thystian was able to get her attention. With a squeak, she moved to be next to him, and they headed to the rooms on the right.

As Thystian and Deetria approached the first of three doors, Thystian spoke, "You see that?"

"Hmm?" Deetria responded.

"Tocsin. He went ballistic for just a minute there when you were hurt," Thystian said.

"Yes..." Deetria replied, looking back slightly.

Thystian chuckled, then said, "You might want to give that serious consideration."

Deetria's pink face grew just a little pinker as she thought about it. The two then reached the door, and opened it.

Thystian nearly fell over from the sonic blast that roared out. Only, it wasn't an attack. There in the horribly messy lab, was an Insectid sitting in a chair, nodding his head in time to the beat of very strange music playing, or perhaps blaring, in the room. The Insectid had its back to them. Deetria bopped the door button with her head to shut it, and Thystian leaned an arm against the door, trying to restore his helmet's sound system.

Goldy and Tocsin, as they moved to the first door on the left, also conversed. Tocsin said, "I think I may have gotten a little ahead of myself..."

"What, with blowing those Insectid thingers up for hurting Deetria?" Goldy asked.

"Well you saw how she was staring at me afterwards..." Tocsin said.

Goldy grinned and stopped, before he poked Tocsin, and said, "Here's mister 'I don't have the capacity to show love', avenging a girl dragon and now CLEARLY concerned about what she thinks of him."

Tocsin narrowed his eyes, turned and, purposely whipping Goldy in the face with his tail, headed to the first door. Goldy yelped, but then snickered, and followed.

Upon opening the door, they could see an Insectid working with a fusion tool, attaching a strange device to a yet stranger device. Goldy and Tocsin developed confused looks, seeing that the lab was filled with spare parts to various odd machines. The Insectid emitted a chuckle-like sound, before it then strung a few wires through some tubing, in the device, and attached them to another unit. He pressed a button. The device started up, then generated what looked like a hologram of a tree. The Insectid watched, but panicked when the device went haywire, and exploded on the spot. The Insectid coughed, covered in soot.

Not seeing any terminals, Goldy shut the door, and looked at Tocsin. Goldy said, "...Let's hope he and Bluey never meet."

"Ohh the chaos..." Tocsin groaned, and the two moved on.

Thystian and Deetria approached the second door, and opened it. Inside, a pair of Insectids in white appeared to be working on a fierce-looking gun. As soon as the door opened, the two looked up, and saw Thystian and Deetria. The Insectids shrieked, one grabbed the gun they were working on, and aimed it at them. Thystian quickly got ready to avoid, but when the Insectid fired the gun, the weapon released a blast out of its back, and disintegrated the user's head. Its body flopped to the ground, the gun clattering to the floor. The still-living Insectid looked in horror at the sight, then at the two, and slowly raised its arms in the air, surrendering.

Not seeing any terminals though, Thystian just shut the door and looked at Deetria. The two busted out laughing, and moved on.

Goldy and Tocsin approached the second door, and opened it. No Insectids were inside, but instead there were dozens and dozens of terminals. Tocsin drifted in, and looked at the various display screens. "Ahh... There," he said, looking at a terminal with what clearly was a display of the energy field guarding the crystal on it.

"Sometimes I can definitely see the charm in breaking things," Goldy noted. Tocsin flew over and exhaled intense flames all over the terminal, melting it and destroying it.

Goldy looked back, and watched as the energy shield flickered, then died completely.

Thystian and Deetria noticed as well, and looked at each other. They nodded, and Thystian headed over, hopping over the railing and planting another charge on the crystal.

Goldy and Tocsin returned to the elevator, and watched as Thystian and Deetria approached. The elevator had not gone anywhere, so they were all able to enter it.

"This is definitely the Electronics floor..." Thystian stated.

"Yup. I prefer painting though," Goldy remarked.

"Really... Now that is a nice hobby to have. I've never been very good at it myself," Thystian added.

Deetria and Tocsin just exchanged glances. Thystian set the elevator for the next floor.

~~05~~

The second the elevator door opened, a sickly green haze wafted in from the poorly lit main chamber, with a deep green theme to it. Goldy sniffed, then started to cough and choke.

"UGHAH! What is that?!" he exclaimed.

"...Toxicology floor... Don't breathe in any more of that than you have to! It's a noxious fume! We gotta get through here fast!" Thystian exclaimed.

There was a blast, and a lighter green gas began to fill the elevator. The group bailed, and spotted a group of four masked, green Insectids in white armor, carrying a different kind of exploding potion. They flung more potions at the group, and the bottles exploded in green gas. Deetria swooped under one of the thrown potions, and released her Status Waves. The Insectid, blinking, distorted slightly from the hit. Nothing seemed to happen, but then the Insectid started to tremble, then broke into a horrified scream and ran away from everything. It ran into a door, and started fighting with it, trying to get it open. Thystian lunged forward under a thrown potion and rammed another Insectid, knocking it to the ground. Goldy leapt forward before exhaling flames. The Insectid ignited, then ran away screeching, before blowing up. Tocsin attacked the fourth in the same manner. It managed to avoid the initial flames. Tocsin released plasma energy into the ground. Instantly, a massive white spike jutted out of the floor under the Insectid and impaled it. The spike then turned to a gas and burned away the limp Insectid body. Thystian punched the face of the remaining Insectid he had tackled. It shrieked, yellow blood-like fluid flying from its face. Thystian punched it again, knocking it out. The terrified Insectid had since passed out.

Goldy was still choking, and his eyes started to water. Thystian moved quickly to jump over the railing and climbed up the crystal a bit to plant a bomb high.

A strange, grotesque squirting sound was heard. Thystian's armor was impacted by a strong acid which began to damage his suit's shielding. He looked over, to see some kind of giant, living, beetle of a hideous deep blue/grey shade. Thystian grunted in anger, leapt off of the crystal, and shouted, "A Death Metriini! Do NOT let that acid touch you!"

The group made various yelps, trying to dodge as the beetle squirted acid at them through some kind of valve in the back of its abdomen. It fired an acidic shot at everyone present, and Deetria couldn't help but squeal in fear, watching as acid would eat away at the ceiling. Thystian quickly took aim with his bow, and waited. After several shots, the beetle turned to reassess the positions of its targets. Now, Thystian fired his arrow, which turned red as it flew. As soon as it plunged into the beetle's head, it exploded in flames, causing the beetle to detonate. The acidic shower that resulted left everyone running around in panic again. A heavy jolt knocked Thystian and Goldy to the floor. A deep groan echoed from the floor as it developed large cracks. "ELEVATOR! NOW!" Thystian yelled.

With a yell, Goldy leapt into the elevator, while Deetria and Tocsin swooped in. Thystian jumped in at the last second, as the floor collapsed to the level below with a violent crash. The elevator door shut.

Goldy started making more "herk" noises, as the gas was still in the elevator. He coughed continually. Thystian quickly set the elevator for the next floor.

~~06~~

The elevator opened, to reveal an almost unlit chamber. Goldy leapt out and landed on all fours, gasping for fresh air. He suddenly flopped onto his side and started choking more, a leg kicking spasmatically. "AUGH! DEATH!" he shouted.

Thystian, Deetria and Tocsin looked out, and could see that all over the floor of this chamber, which bore a silver color theme, were the bodies of dead and half-decomposed Insectids. Deetria whimpered.

Tocsin muttered, "Someone's already been here..."

Thystian stood for a moment, then stepped out and headed to the unguarded crystal. He climbed over the railing and onto the crystal. Unnerved by the corpses, Tocsin and Deetria stayed close to Thystian. Goldy scrambled to get away from the stinking bodies and climbed onto the crystal as well.

Thystian searched for a good spot on the crystal, which was gradually shrinking in circumference as they ascended the floors. He planted his bomb. But Deetria started to whimper more.

"What's wrong?" Tocsin asked, looking at her.

She looked quite scared, and pointed with her tail. Everyone looked to see some movement on one of the Insectid corpses. Goldy squinted to try and see better, then gasped in disgust at the sight. A large, grey, hideous slug had worked its way out of the head of one of the dead Insectids. And now the group could see that multiple slugs were beginning to climb out of each corpse. Deetria whimpered even more, terrified.

"...Parasitology... Those Insectids are complete fools..." Thystian growled.

"We're trapped!!" Goldy exclaimed, horrified at the disgusting sight, as the swarms of Parasite Slugs slithered at a surprisingly speedy pace toward the group, though they didn't seem capable of climbing up the energy railing.

"Those things are very weak against fire, Goldy," Thystian said.

"...Oh. FLAME ON!" Goldy shouted, jumping off the crystal and landing on the railing. Balancing precariously, he blasted flames at the slugs.

Tocsin joined in the assault. The slugs emitted disgusting shriek noises, some being roasted, others fleeing. Thystian and Deetria made a break for the elevator through the opening. Deetria, keeping very close to the ceiling, nearly ran into a large conduit attached to it and traveling across the room.

The floor was now crawling with these slugs, but Goldy and Tocsin were able to keep them at bay, before entering the elevator. Goldy backed in, blasting more flames, then stepped back quickly. Thystian shut the door. At the last second, a slug jumped for them, but the elevator shut on the organism, crushing it. Everyone pressed up against the back of the elevator as the slug wriggled, before dying.

"...next floor please..." Thystian said.

"I'm not getting near that thing!" Goldy shouted.

Deetria just trembled. Tocsin sighed, stayed close to the wall, and pressed the button as directed by Thystian. The elevator began to hum to life, and the slug's body jolted. Apparently the elevator's passing to the next floor ripped a portion of the slug's body off on the other side.

~~07~~

When the elevator reached its destination, the door opened and the half of the slug that remained flopped to the floor, everyone's eyes locked on it. Goldy stepped forward. "NNNYEH!" he called, as he kicked the slug's body out of the doorway. The group watched, and realized what lie before them. This floor was trashed. In front of them, guarding the elevator, was a curving energy field that reached to about Thystian's chest in height, keeping back water. The chamber looked like it had suffered a dam break, as the entire floor was flooded. On top of that, the group heard electricity crackling, and could see large wires reaching into the water. The slug corpse landed in the water, and immediately began to burn and sizzle, before breaking apart.

"...The water's electrified..." Thystian warned.

"Hydrology?" Tocsin question, and Thystian nodded.

"What the heck happened here?" Goldy exclaimed, "It looks like someone ELSE'S bomb went off!"

"The Insectids aren't exactly known for jobsite safety..." Thystian commented, stepping out of the elevator and into the energy field "corral" in the room.

He looked ahead and could see that the crystal section was again blocked by an energy shield. Thystian stood silent for a second; everyone was waiting for him to say something. "Well, the terminal to that thing is on this floor, but there's no way we can get to it. It's in another sector of the facility behind a locked door."

"Great. Dead end," Tocsin griped.

"What if we just skip this floor?" Deetria suggested.

"No... I need a bomb on every floor. You all may not have been noticing, but I've been planting them in a spiral pattern up the crystal. That pattern cannot be broken or else the crystal will survive, even if the facility itself doesn't," Thystian replied.

Tocsin asked, "Well what do you suggest then?"

Thystian took a moment to examine the chamber, and spotted a conduit traveling down a wall and into an open panel there. After a second of apparently scanning the conduit, he spoke, "That's a main power cord. If that can be cut off at the source, we could kill the power to the whole facility."

"But what about the elevator?" Goldy questioned.

Thystian replied, "I'm sure they have an emergency power system for critical systems. The Insectids may be accident-prone pushovers, but they aren't just plain stupid."

Tocsin looked out at the panel, then looked at Thystian, then Deetria, then Thystian again. He then spoke, "Think Deetria and I could get that done?"

As Deetria looked at Tocsin, Thystian looked out at the opening in the wall, and replied, "Actually yes, I think you could. If you can follow that conduit to its source, you should be able to figure out what to do."

"Right," Tocsin acknowledged.

Tocsin looked at Deetria, and she nodded. The two turned and headed over the water, and swooped into the panel, finding that their path then wound down through narrow tube shafts with cords, wires and electrical piping passing through it. Downward, downward they flew, swerving and avoiding lines and wires, tubes and angled pipes, tracing the large conduit as it traveled down the tube. Deetria followed behind Tocsin, imitating his every move.

Shortly, Tocsin skidded to a stop midair and Deetria nearly ran into him. "Crap!" he exclaimed.

Deetria, almost on top of him, peeked around him and saw what was in the way. A grating lay there, the conduit passing through a secure section of it. "I've had VERY bad experiences with these... I can fly through them, breaking apart temporarily, but it causes me severe injury... I almost killed myself once having to pass through three of these to save the dragons back home..."

"Ah! That's bad! Please don't..." Deetria pleaded.

"Not even about to... But how do we get through this? I can't use my flames here, or else I might catch us in it and hurt you..." Tocsin stated.

Deetria narrowed her eyes softly, slightly charmed by his concern. She then emitted Status Waves into the grating, which distorted slightly. Suddenly the grating began to compress in on itself, crushing into a small ball, before falling down into the chamber below. Tocsin looked at Deetria, who looked happy.

"That move has some scary potential..." he remarked. Deetria giggled.

They resumed the flight down, entered the dark chamber of the fourth floor, and stopped for a second. Deetria gagged at the sight of the slugs feasting on the corpses of the dead Insectids. Some slugs looked up at them, then paid them no mind.

Deetria looked forward, and recognized that she'd nearly run into this conduit before. She and Tocsin followed it across the chamber, where it zigzagged slightly, before going through a shaft above the center door in the front half of the building. Tocsin flew down to the door instead, and it opened for him. Deetria followed, and the two entered into this room.

Clearly, it was an electrical room, but there were scads of the slugs here too. An Insectid corpse sat in a chair, arm still reaching for a switch. Tocsin could see that the slugs had destroyed the circuit breaker that the conduit fed into.

"Ugh... We should have just cut it off where we were back up there," he muttered.

Deetria said, "Well, we still can kill the power here, right?"

Tocsin, nodding, released flames onto the circuit breaker, then the other electrical systems, igniting everything. They began to crackle with electricity. "...Do you absorb electricity like I absorb fire? Or are you just immune?" Tocsin asked, inspired to by the crackling electricity.

Deetria developed an amused expression and replied, "Just immune."

"Ahh," Tocsin responded. The two turned to flee the room, as everything was now beginning to blow up. As they entered the main chamber again, the dull hum they hadn't noticed when they entered this building suddenly cut off, and all the lights died. After a second, weaker, red lights came online. The door, which was stuck in the open position when the power died, slowly closed.

Tocsin and Deetria swooped back up into the ceiling through the open panel and flew back up through the tubing. Again, Deetria followed Tocsin's lead, avoiding obstacles.

Once they had returned, they found that a lot of the water had drained, going down through the elevator shaft. Goldy stood there, soaked and perhaps slightly annoyed. Thystian was wading back from the crystal to the elevator when the two popped out of the wall and flew over.

"Good job you two! Not sure what you did, but I can guarantee we won't have any more energy fields in our way!" he said.

Tocsin spoke, "We just torched the electrical room completely. The circuit breaker had been trashed by those slug things..."

"They're probably drawn to heat..." Thystian remarked, before the group entered the elevator.

The door slowly shut, and once Thystian set its designation, the elevator slowly ascended. "...The only downside to killing the power is that everything will work at a crawl..." Thystian muttered.

Goldy shook his feet to shake off the water, which had since drained out of the lift.

~~08~~

When the elevator opened, the group slowly peeked out. They could see lining the walls parts of the Insectids' various insect droids. Mounted to the ceiling were dozens of perimeter defense turrets. They hung limp however, apparently not supported by the backup systems. Indeed, Thystian's group was very grateful for this.

"Cybernetics..." Thystian stated.

"Thystian..." Deetria said, afraid.

The group looked in the direction she was looking. They could see three Insectids, standing around, their backs to the group, in front of three combat mechs. One mech was small, lean, and had a pair of laser turrets on the nose, as well as slim arms.

The second was about medium, slightly bulkier, and bore a pair of blade-ended arms, and a missile launcher.

The third was very large, and carried a massive shield with laser cannons built in.

"Try... to sneak... up on them..." Thystian said as quietly as possible.

The group stepped out of the elevator, and crept toward the Insectids, who were chattering on personal comms about the power dying. They were nearly upon them when Goldy bumped a shelf, causing a part to clatter. Everyone hunched, and then glared at Goldy. Unfortunately, the Insectids had turned their heads quickly, and spotted the three. One shouted loudly into its comm, while the other two charged for and hopped into their mechs, activating them. The third then did so, and Thystian grunted in annoyance, readying his mallet.

Once the mechs had activated, Thystian muttered, "Great, now we have to fight a set of cheap 'Lost Vikings' rip-off mechs..."

"I AM SO SORRY!!" Goldy shouted, now readying to fight too.

The Insectids hardly gave the group time to prepare, the small mech immediately spraying lasers at them from its nose barrels. It fired deceptively fast. The group split up to avoid. The medium mech released a missile toward Goldy, who had already dove to avoid the lasers. The blast launched him clear across the room and he smashed through a door. He landed back down, belly covered in soot. He looked back, and could see, though upside down, some kind of teleporting station that consisted of a computer system much less boxy than Bluey's and with most of a ring instead of an arch on a platform. It was currently offline from the power-out. He got up, coughed from the smoke, and charged out.

Thystian noticed him run out. "How do you survive those things?!" he shouted, shielding himself from the laser fire with his hammer.

"That's are nothing compared to what I've been through with Bluey!" Goldy replied, before running further back into the chamber, around the crystal, trying to get behind the mechs.

Tocsin and Deetria swooped and swerved in the air, avoiding the extremely heavy laser fire from the heavy mech. Tocsin was slammed by a laser and jolted back with a pained grunt, triggering a squeal from Deetria. Tocsin, eyes narrowed, zoomed forward and got above it. He blazed flames down, but the mech held its shield over itself to block the attack. Deetria released Status Waves, but the Mech's shield blocked those too. She grunted in frustration. Tocsin swooped about, blazing more flames, but the mech displayed a surprising turn-around capability, keeping its shield between itself and Tocsin.

Thystian flung his hammer at the small mech, but it jumped over the attack, and began running toward him spraying more lasers. Thystian performed an incredible series of backflips to avoid some of the shots, others striking his armor and inflicting damage. He landed, hand out as if expecting something to return to him. The small mech's pilot blinked, before the mech was slammed from behind by the returning mallet and flipped into the air, crashing down. Thystian caught his mallet, but was surprised when the mech got up. Thystian did manage to catch a glimpse of some kind of invisible energy shield that had absorbed the brunt of the attack. "Hnn..." Thystian droned.

Goldy continued his run around, but was ambushed in the hazy redness of the chamber by the medium mech, which slashed at him with its blades. Goldy, shocking the pilot, grabbed the blades with his hands, eyes narrowed and teeth gritted, small amounts of blood beginning to form in Goldy's hands. Even as a baby dragon, he had surprising strength. He then blazed flames out at the mech. The shield absorbed most of the flames, but did frighten the pilot, who fell back and fired a missile, which Goldy sidestepped to avoid. "Ohh Enigma if only you could see me now!" Goldy yelled as he lunged at the mech.

"HOLD STILL DANGIT!!" Tocsin yelled, still flying around blazing flames.

"Tocsin." Deetria squeaked.

"WHAT?!" he yelled, before realizing Deetria had hit the mech with Status Waves in an opening. The result was that the mech was uncontrollably turning. The pilot inside was freaking out.

"...Sorry for the yell," Tocsin said, apologizing.

Deetria just giggled, and watched as Tocsin released a plasma orb at the mech. The orb came into contact, then detonated, throwing the mech back. It staggered to its feet, not beat yet however. The status condition had worn off, and so it marched toward them spraying more lasers from its shield. They moved to avoid, but Deetria was unable to dodge one. She squealed in pain. Tocsin narrowed his eyes, then charged forward, scaring Deetria. Tocsin converted into ball plasma, and flew around the mech. It tried to turn to block, but was not fast enough this time as Tocsin smashed his way through the bubble the Insectid was hiding within. The Insectid shrieked, then stopped when Tocsin, normal again, floated right in front of it, face to face. "Do you smell something burning?" Tocsin asked, a dangerous tone, "No? That's because you can't smell yourself on fire."

He released flames right onto the Insectid, who started screaming and flailing. Tocsin abandoned the mech. As the Insectid burned, the mech exploded, leaving large portions of itself remaining.

Both Thystian and Goldy noticed the energy shields guarding the other two mechs blip off. Thystian immediately switched to his bow and fired an arrow, which glowed a deep purple. The arrow ripped clean through the small mech pilot's guard bubble, and clean through the pilot's head. The mech simply hunched over, the pilot slain.

Goldy, currently clinging to the medium mech's guard bubble, as the mech struggled unsuccessfully to get him off with its blade arms, commented, "Safest place to be is on a mech's head." He snickered, as he stood up, and jumped as the mech swung its arm at itself and smashed its own guard bubble. The Insectid shrieked as Goldy, hanging from one of the offline ceiling turrets, blazed flame down into the mech's pilot station. The Insectid shrieked more, and, oddly, the mech started running forward, before slamming into a wall and falling over. The Insectid crawled out of the mech, burning, then stopped, dead.

The group stood triumphant. They cheered. "We're REALLY starting to take the shape of a team!" Thystian exclaimed.

Goldy added, "This adventure is gonna ROCK."

Thystian quickly planted his bomb on the crystal, before the group moved back into the elevator. They sighed in annoyance as the elevator door ...slowly... closed.

~~09~~

The elevator opened, and the group stepped out. They went starry-eyed when they could see on display on this floor, gemstones, by the dozens.

"FINALLY!" Tocsin exclaimed.

"The Geology level. Finally indeed!" Thystian stated.

Goldy added, "A little too typical we'd have to climb whole building before finding them, you think?"

"Actually no, I half expected this..." Thystian replied.

Deetria asked, "Where's the Marium Amethyst you think?"

"Probably there!" Thystian said, heading to the center chamber on their right. Sure enough, inside was a massive geode of Marium Amethyst, bearing a shade of purple Goldy and Tocsin had never seen before. Thystian approached, and the group stood behind him, gazing at the huge crystalline formation.

Thystian stepped up to the crystal, then looked down, knelt, and picked up a couple of really large pieces of this gemstone. He placed them in his inventory, and turned around. He gasped at the sight of a poison potion flying into the room. It detonated, releasing a toxic cloud. The group cried out, and fled the chamber, Thystian passing through the harmless-to-him cloud.

They all stopped when they found the source of the attack. Standing there, before them, was a tall, dark-bodied, dark-clothed Insectid wearing a very unusual helmet. He displayed an attitude of deadly seriousness, and was armed to the teeth. He was equipped with a hoverpack, some kind of shield generator, and a missile launcher built into his pack. In his lower left hand he held a Beam Cannon. In his lower right hand, was an apparently finished version of the vicious-looking gun that Thystian and Deetria had seen the other scientists working on. In his upper right hand, was a frightening energy sword, and in his left, a tall teardrop shaped shield.

Deetria started to tremble right away, while Tocsin's and Goldy's eyes widened. Thystian was very unnerved by the fact he couldn't scan this being.

Still, Thystian valiantly stepped forward, and ordered, "Step aside, Science Lord! We're taking this Amethyst and leaving!"

The Science Lord responded in a deep, buzzing voice, knowing their language, "You trash our facilities, kill our soldiers, plant bombs in our labs, and now you expect me to just step aside and let you pass? I think not. I will kill each of you one at a time, slowly, and then dedicate your bodies to our science. You will serve to better our tactics. Especially with your valuable data on NeoSPGXA, Thystian."

Thystian was even more unnerved by the fact this being somehow knew his name.

"If you know my name, I have a right to know yours!" Thystian exclaimed.

The Science Lord chuckled quietly, then replied, "You and your 'rights'. I will tell you, but only because you will only know it for the next ten seconds. I am Duu'mos En'trage, captain of this entire branch of Insectids the pathetic Nebula is attempting to subdue. In the end, only the Insectids win."

"We'll see about that!" Goldy shouted, releasing flames. The blaze was absorbed by a large energy bubble around Duu'mos. The shield was visible only momentarily. Goldy stopped, and blinked. He was then blasted in the face by a huge swarm of purple energy orbs flying in a quadruple helix pattern, and fell over, badly dizzied.

Tocsin released a plasma orb, but upon contact with the shield, it detonated, unable to pass through it. Tocsin was fired upon by the beam cannon. He swooped upward to avoid.

Deetria, upset, released Status Waves. They faded harmlessly on the shield. She whined, and the Science Lord ignored her.

Thystian, snarling, lunged at the Insectid, and smashed his mallet at him. He was able to pass the first barrier, but came into contact with a smaller barrier within the first. This barrier was diamond in shape around Duu'mos, and seemed to consist of a complex of small energy panels. They turned from blue to red when hit, but then flipped over, revealing a fresh blue face to keep guarding.

Duu'mos swung his energy sword, producing a massive gash on Thystian's armor. He cried out and staggered back. Duu'mos lunged forward, thrusting his sword to stab, but Thystian jumped quickly to the side to avoid.

"This is a real downer after trouncing those mechs..." Goldy grumbled, sitting up. He then yelped, blasted by more of the quadruple helix shots, and flopped over again.

"I hate invincible enemies!" Tocsin exclaimed, before having to evade more of the Beam Cannon fire.

Deetria just floated there, feeling totally helpless. She blinked and looked to the side, as if in thought. Thystian flew by in the background, smote by the Science Lord's shield. Deetria looked back, closed her eyes, concentrated, and Phased. She flew frantically at the Science Lord, squealing. He looked at her, and narrowed an eye. He yelped when she passed through his shields, and dephased, before clinging to his face. He staggered for a moment, before putting his sword away and grabbing at Deetria, who clung as tight as her wings could hold.

"Friggen... FACEHUGGER!" Duu'mos exclaimed, muffled, before grabbing Deetria and yanking her off. He threw her to the floor, before stomping on her. She cried out shrilly, then started to cry. Duu'mos pointed his Beam Cannon at her.

Tocsin, zooming toward them, eyes narrowed nearly to slits, swooped down, scooped Deetria up, and flew away from the Science Lord, as he fired the beam, which cut right through the floor. The Science Lord turned his head to look at them as they flew, then looked back at the ground. The hole quickly started to grow, so the Science Lord took to the air. Deetria whimpered, laying on Tocsin's back as he carried her to safety.

Goldy slowly crawled away from the Science Lord, but yelped, shot again by the quadruple helix shot. He flipped over and yelled angrily, "STOP DOING THAT!!"

During all of this, Thystian had rushed over to the Sperciite crystal, its large tip sticking out of the floor. He planted his bomb on it, while the Science Lord was distracted by Deetria. He made sure to cloak it, and set it to go off in thirty seconds.

~~10~~

30 seconds remaining...

"Gotta get outta here, NOW!!" Thystian exclaimed.

The Science Lord looked at him, and narrowed his eyes. "You aren't going anywhere..." he growled.

Goldy exclaimed, "I saw a teleporter station on the floor below!"

25 seconds remaining...

"Down we go! Down, down now!!" Thystian yelled. He charged for the hole, but was rammed by the airborne Science Lord and fell back and over, Duu'mos landing over him. The Science Lord stabbed at his head with his sword, but Thystian twisted and turned to avoid. He rolled out from under Duu'mos, and fell through the hole.

20 seconds remaining...

Tocsin and the now somewhat recovered Deetria flew down as well. Goldy jumped in, but was shot in the side by the quadruple helix shots once more. He smashed into the edge of the hole, before falling in.

"I HATE YOU!" he shouted from the hole. The Science Lord chuckled cruelly, moving to dive through the hole to the next floor.

Thystian immediately saw the station that Goldy was talking about, and rushed in. Goldy shakily got to his feet, while Tocsin and Deetria charged into the portal room. Goldy limped that way. Those shots were taking their toll.

15 seconds remaining...

Duu'mos descended into the chamber, and switched his quadruple helix gun for a purple missile launcher. He fired off a series of those tenaciously homing purple missiles. Goldy swung around, seeing them coming, and breathed flames at them, blasting them away. The explosions threw him further into the room however. Inside, Thystian was currently taking some Marium Amethyst from his inventory, and jamming it into the system's power supply.

10 seconds remaining...

"Come on... WORK!" Thystian exclaimed, smacking the side of the unit with his hand. The machine suddenly began to power up, gaining its energy from the Amethyst.

"...Got a little Fonzie in you, Thystian?" Tocsin asked.

"I wish..." Thystian replied.

5 seconds remaining...

Duu'mos could hear the rapid beeping of Thystian's bombs now, and narrowed his eyes. He swooped into the portal room, and witnessed as the portal activated with a powering blast.

Thystian picked Goldy up and threw him through the portal. Tocsin and Deetria quickly swooped in afterwards. Thystian then turned to face Duu'mos.

"The Insectids will never win as long as we're around to fight them," Thystian boldly stated.

1 second remaining...

Thystian jumped. His bombs detonated. Duu'mos, glowering, looked back at the explosion as it roared toward him, seemingly in slow motion. Thystian disappeared through the portal.

The portal station was destroyed by the explosion.

Outside, the Insectid and Nebula soldiers, still in conflict, noticed red fissures beginning to form on the entire Science Facility structure. The building then exploded in such a huge blast it released a shockwave that roared over the field, wiping out all of the other Insectid structures along the way.

Nebula soldiers grinned, their expressions hidden by their helmets, at the sight of this. They knew they had now gained the upper hand in this fight to free Mara Seven from the Insectids.

END

Dragon Tails © Tim Dawson

Wenonah Galaxy © Adrian Smith


	4. 04: Pearls of Love

Roseus Elementeus

Chapter Four – Pearls of Love

~~00~~

Once again, everything was a blur. But this time, it was a blue blur. Accompanying it, the gentle sound of crashing ocean waves. A warm softness could be felt underneath.

Tocsin suddenly popped into view. "Sick again?" he asked.

Goldy lay in warm, beautiful, white sand. But this time, he didn't feel so bad. In fact, he felt serene. He inhaled. It was fresh air. Air so fresh, he couldn't detect even a trace of pollution.

Goldy sat up, and held his head with his hand. He shook his head, and refocused his vision. Now, he could see exactly where he was. And once he saw, he became mesmerized. The group had been ejected from the portal onto a beautiful, seemingly endless beach. The sands of this beach pure, perfect. The water a glorious sapphire blue. The sand reached some distance inland, before being cut off by towering cliffs, a few hundred feet tall. These cliffs stretched north and south along the beach, forming something of a tranquil passage. Immediately to the north of the group, the cliff cut off the beach, closing off any path north.

"Whoa..." Goldy said, eyes widened a little. He and Tocsin looked around the area, taking in this pristine sight. It was definitely a change of scenery from what they had been dealing with just minutes ago.

There sat Thystian, in the middle of the sand, looking out over the water, which disappeared upon meeting the horizon. Thystian looked over at Goldy, and waved.

"A little dizzy..." Goldy finally answered, "But not sick this time. I might be able to get used to those jumps."

Tocsin nodded, then looked out, and saw Deetria floating by the water's edge. She watched as it came and went, observing as bubbles formed on the ground as the surf receded. She looked at Tocsin, and flew over quickly.

"We made it out of that horrible Insectid hive, and now look where we are. This couldn't be a more beautiful place!" she exclaimed.

"Definitely..." Tocsin responded quietly.

"Well? What do you think?" Thystian asked.

Goldy looked around still. He replied, "I have never laid eyes on a beach before. Where we live on Earth, the nearest beach is many miles away, and my brothers never took an opportunity to travel to one."

Goldy climbed to his feet, and walked through the warm sand, looking at the sky. Sapphire blue, matching the ocean, the sky was cloudless. The sound of the surf was complimented by the calls of birds nesting in the cliff face and flying about in the sky. Goldy walked up beside Thystian, turned to face the ocean and looked out. He slowly panned his head from left to right, seeing nothing but beautiful blue ahead.

"It's... absolutely gorgeous," He commented. He looked at Thystian and asked, "Where are we?"

Thystian, looking at Goldy, then looked back out at the ocean, and replied, "This is planet Coll, the Paradise Planet. We're currently at Pollyanna Beach. It's the land/sea border of a region known as Orchid County."

Abruptly, Goldy sat in the sand, watching the ocean, and fell silent. Thystian noticed Goldy breathe deeply. "Clearing out your lungs of all that stagnant Insectid air?" he asked.

"I hope we never have to deal with them again, ever," Goldy replied.

Thystian once again looked back out, and watched as Deetria tried to drag Tocsin to the water. "We won't. None of the other planets we'll be going to have any Insectid bases on them, as far as I know. They only tend to build them on planets of major importance."

"A paradise planet isn't?" Goldy asked.

Thystian replied, "No valuable resources. That's all Insectids want: resources."

Goldy fell silent again, then flopped back into the sand and lay there. "Think we could rest here a bit? All that running and fighting..." he requested.

"Of course," Thystian said without hesitation, "After all that, I need a breather too."

Deetria, her tail wrapped around Tocsin's, dragged him in the air toward the water. "Aww come on! It's just a little water!" she squealed.

"No! I'm a FIRE dragon! That water will damage me!" Tocsin exclaimed.

Deetria released him, and teased, "Scardy!"

Tocsin just huffed. Deetria, with squealing giggles, swooped in and out of the water with splashes. She dove in, swam beneath the water, and looked closely at a small crab as it sat in place. She echoed a giggle distorted into warbling by the water. The crab quickly burrowed into the sand. Deetria peeked out of the water at Tocsin, who was watching her.

She commented, "The water's warm! It's so lovely! It reminds me of your warmth."

Tocsin's expression softened. Deetria rose out of the water. She drifted toward him, dripping, and flicked some water onto him. The droplets hissed on contact and steamed away.

"...See?" Tocsin noted.

Deetria made a non-serious sad face, flew a few circles around him and resumed diving in and out of the water.

Tocsin, about to say something when she started this, fell silent. Deetria squealed and giggled as she played in the water; Tocsin's expression still soft, watched her enjoy herself.

Goldy rolled his head to look at Thystian, and asked, "So, was Coll one of your destinations?"

"Yes, fortunately. I didn't have time to set a specific destination. I just set it to send us OFF Mara Seven. I figured whichever planet it'd take us to would work," he explained.

Goldy looked back up at the sky, and said, "What element do you need here?"

Thystian spoke, "It's called Essence Rit'Seiwa, a special fluid drawn from the mystical Rit'Seiwa plant only found on this planet, and for that matter, this particular county. It's not on this beach though. We'll need to head south down the beach to get out of this area and head out into the meadow neighboring here to find it. That is, when you're ready."

"Just a few more minutes, if that's ok..." Goldy said.

"Sure," Thystian acknowledged.

"You gonna take that helmet off?" Goldy asked, sitting back up again.

"Nah. The air inside here is fresher than it is out there, believe it or not," Thystian replied.

Goldy looked at Thystian, perhaps with a bit of a skeptical expression. He gazed back out, he and Thystian watching as Deetria joyfully splashed in the water.

"She's like a baby..." Goldy commented, with a smile.

Thystian chuckled, "Yeah, she's a real cutie. Though I don't know if you're seeing it, but I think Tocsin's manifesting a crush on her."

Goldy snickered, and replied, "Oh yeah. I'm seeing it."

"WHEEH" Deetria squealed, splashing in and out of the water, before swooping up and looking at Tocsin closely. He flinched, and she giggled, before shuttle looping in the air and plunging back into the water with a splash. She peeked out at him and giggled.

She sighed contently, and floated on her back in the water, riding it as it came and went on the shore, bobbing up and down in the undulation.

Tocsin drifted closer, and inquired, "Deetria... Do you like flowers?"

She moved her head to look at him and replied enthusiastically, "Oh yes! Flowers! Gems! Crystals! Butterflies! I just love pretty things. You're pretty too, you know."

Tocsin acknowledged, "So I've heard..."

Deetria giggled. Thystian called out to the two, "Deetria! Tocsin! We're preparing to leave!"

Deetria squeaked, rising out of the water, and flew toward Thystian. Tocsin at first watched her, then followed.

Thystian stood up in the sand, and brushed it off the back of his suit. Goldy did the same, shaking himself a bit in places he couldn't reach easily. Deetria and Tocsin arrived, and Thystian asked, "Was it fun?"

"Yes! I love playing in the ocean. Water is so much fun," Deetria replied.

Thystian nodded. He spoke, "We need to head south along this beach, until the cliffs recede into the ground and grant us access to the neighboring meadow. And before anyone asks, we can't scale the cliff because it is too fragile. Years of erosion has left it brittle. Also, while I'm pretty agile in this suit, I can't jump HUNDREDS of feet into the air..."

Goldy chuckled a little.

"That's ok! I wanna stay here for a while anyway," Deetria exclaimed.

"Definitely a beautiful change of environment for us to travel in, that's for sure..." Tocsin added.

Thystian nodded. He looked at Goldy, who also nodded. The four began to stroll down the beach.

~~01~~

The group traveled south along the beach. It was not a straight path, but curved and turned in a snake-like manner. They came upon a huge stone near the water end of the beach, with a natural stone arch reaching from it into the cliff face. Goldy climbed the rock, and balance-walked across the arch. A strange bird perching there squawked at him, surprising him and causing him to fall off. He landed with a sandy blast on the ground. Deetria giggled.

After a time, the beach began to gradually narrow, and grew rocky. The beach soon was narrow enough that the water reached the cliff with its higher waves. Thystian and Goldy, though, effortlessly walked through this area, taking in the sights and sounds.

Deetria, rather frequently, would break off into bouts of romping in the water, though she made sure to keep up with the group as they continued to travel.

It had been at least half an hour, according to Thystian's suit system clock. The sun was still shining high in the sky, though a few white, puffy clouds could now be seen. The beach had widened out into a sandy shore again, though the cliffs still loomed over the shore. The group strolled along, mostly quiet, listening to the sounds of nature at peace.

Goldy, looking out ahead of them with his large eyes, noticed what appeared to be a wooden vessel some distance out in the sea. It seemed to be moving away at a steady clip. "Well that's interesting. A wooden boat?" he commented.

The rest looked out, and noticed the ship too. "Hmm. Doesn't look like..." Thystian trailed off.

Tocsin looked ahead on the shore. Since it was so flat, he was able to see pretty far. He noticed a smaller object sitting in the sand within reach of the water. "I see something else, on the beach," he said.

Everyone looked, seeing the object too, and began to head toward it. As they drew closer, the sounds of a female voice weeping could be heard, the object began to be more distinguishable as a person, then as a woman, sitting on the beach. The weeping emitted from her. The group slowly increased into a speedier approach. Soon, they could make out what looked like an eel-like body for the lower half of the woman. "Mermaid!" Goldy exclaimed.

"Not quite..." Thystian said as they got closer.

Soon they were upon the woman, and could see her clearly. Her body was a sea-green color, from head to tail tip. Indeed her body did convert at the hip-point into a very long eel tail. A pair of blue lines traveled down the tail, starting at just below her belly. Her torso and arms were humanoid, breast-adorned chest covered by a strange top of seaweed. Her face, however, was partially humanoid, partially that of a puma. She had a pair of large fan-like ears, and her hair was long, reaching to the small of her back, and gold in color. Goldy and Tocsin fell silent at the sight of this strange being. Thystian drew closer however, seeing that the woman was definitely upset, crying. Deetria looked at Goldy and Tocsin, and said, "She's a Murapuma. If you're gonna be traveling with us, you'll be meeting all kinds really neat people."

They nodded, while Thystian stepped up to the Murapuma woman, and knelt. "Ma'am..." he said softly.

She looked at him, and they saw her large golden eyes. She took a second to attempt a recovery of her composure, then looked at Thystian directly. She stared at his helmet, at the Nebula symbol that adorned the face of it. She didn't recognize this, but felt a sense of safety. "Please... please help..." she started.

"What is the problem?" Thystian asked, speaking gently.

She pointed out to sea. They looked, and saw she was pointing to the sea vessel heading away from shore. "That ship... It's a Strigigente ship... and they stole my eggs! My babies... They're so close to hatching..." she pleaded.

Thystian stood up, faced the sea and looked out. Everyone watched him, and Tocsin commented, "I know THAT stance..."

"Stri-... Strigig... Striguh... WHAT?" Goldy sputtered, trying to pronounce the name of the people the woman mentioned.

"Strih – gih – jen – tay," Deetria slowly spoke, a cute tone in her voice, which then darkened slightly as she resumed, "They're a mean race of owl people. They use super-natural powers and prey on the weak..."

"...Great... JUST great. We switched from high-tech evil bugs to low-tech evil birds..." Tocsin complained.

"Not all of the Strigigente are evil however, unlike the Insectids. ...Actually now that I think about it, there's a couple factions of Insectids that are not evil either. Depends on their cause. ANYWAY, tangent off! We've got some eggs to rescue," Thystian said.

The Murapuma, still resting in the sand, smiled, eyes still teary, and spoke, "Thank you, adventurers. Please hurry..."

Thystian nodded at her. To the group he said, "It's about time I showed you all my fast means of transportation. Be ready to fly."

Goldy nodded. They watched as Thystian took a few steps back, ran forward and hopped. Under his feet appeared a large, green, black and purple discus. It had four arms slowly spiraling around it, looking very much like a spiral galaxy itself. It was a hoverboard.

"...That is awesome!" Goldy shouted. He turned, ran up the beach, turned, charged down and leapt into the air, taking off. Deetria and Tocsin, already airborne, flew with the group.

They sped out over the open water, heading toward the ship. Thystian's hoverboard stayed a few feet over the surface of the water, and began to build up a wake.

~~02~~

The ship grew larger as they approached. They began to take in the scope of just how big this ship actually was. Within minutes, they were near the ship, but they noticed a white flash on its side. "INCOMING!" Thystian shouted, and the group swerved to the sides to avoid as a huge white orb of energy blasted past the group and into the water, releasing massive amounts of steam.

Several more white flashes were seen, and Thystian swung around more orbs as they zoomed by. Goldy, Tocsin and Deetria had their own projectiles to avoid. Thystian drew his hammer at this point, preparing to attack. Despite the effort of the Strigigente on board, they were unable to discourage the group from reaching the ship.

With a sudden upward swoop, Thystian launched into the air. He dropped off his hoverboard, performed a flip in the air, and landed on the deck of the large wooden ship. His board continued up, before stopping and disappearing.

This ship's main deck was large, with a huge mast reaching up from the center. To the front of the ship, the deck raised enough for a pair of doors to be built into the wall. The deck continued on, with no stairs to reach the higher platform. To the back of the ship, the deck again raised. Again a pair of doors were built into the wall, and again there were no stairs, before the deck continued on, sloping upward. Another huge mast reached up through the raised section of the upper back deck. The sails of the ship were huge, with tons of rigging and numerous platforms strewn about between the two masts.

There, before him stood at least a two dozen Strigigente.

These owl beings had a vaguely humanoid appearance, standing at an average height of six feet. The torso was mostly humanoid. The head was mostly like that of an owl's, with huge, forward-pointing eyes and a smaller, hooked beak that also contained the mouth and nose. No sign of ears, though some of the Strigigente had horn/ear-like feather formations on their heads. The head was connected to the torso by a thick neck that was not really visible. They did not have arms, instead having large, glorious owl wings with a plumage design that rendered their flight completely silent. The legs were owl-like in appearance as well, being rather thick, up to the knees, where they dramatically thinned out, and were featherless. The feet consisted of three talon-tipped toes pointing forward, with a fourth toe, dramatically shorter than the rest, pointing back, also tipped with a talon. Their bodies were entirely covered in feathers, the colors of which were a pale brown shade, and composed of intricate designs. They wore large robes that one would think would be cumbersome for both fliers and sea-goers, yet didn't seem to interfere with their movement at all.

Tocsin, Deetria and Goldy swooped up into view as well. The group immediately came under attack.

Feathers with needle-sharp tips came flying at everyone from some of the Strigigente. One stabbed into Goldy's shoulder. He yelped, before plucking the feather out. Tocsin and Deetria were able to avoid this initial attack volley, while Thystian's armor took the brunt of the damage.

Thystian lunged forward, scattering the group with a swing of his hammer. Many leapt into the air, their huge wings spread, and they flew about. They emitted deep hooting calls, though they appeared to be shouting in a language. One, still on deck, rushed Thystian, and slashed its wing at him. Thystian blocked with his hammer, thrust it forward top first, shoving the Strigigente back. Another came down on Thystian from the side, talons first, and slashed, damaging Thystian's armor. He thrust his mallet's bowl-shaped end into the enemy's face, knocking him back. Thystian looked to the side, and leapt to avoid a fireball as it roared past, released from a Strigigente in a red robe.

Tocsin swooped about, blazing flames at the airborne Strigigente. Several were ignited, and dove into the water to terminate the fire. Another twisted around in the air, thrusting its wings at him and blasted out a bolt of electricity. Tocsin was struck and jolted back heavily, before returning fire with a plasma orb. The explosion launched the Strigigente into the sea. Tocsin was shot at by another fireball user that was standing on a rigging platform. He absorbed the ball, and sneered, before returning it back at the Strigigente. It shocked Tocsin as it smacked the ball with a wing, repelling it away into the sea.

Deetria flew about, pursued by several Strigigente. She squealed, before circling around and around the front mast. The Strigigente tried to pursue, but one stopped after a moment, an annoyed look on its face. Deetria came to a sudden stop behind the Strigigente, then shot straight up, causing all but one of her pursuers to crash into him. They all rolled forward. The remaining Strigigente swooped up at her, and hooted very loudly, releasing a sonic blast that rendered Deetria dizzy. She squealed as she was grabbed by the bird, via a foot. Deetria and the owl exchanged a look, before she released Status Waves into it. The Strigigente distorted slightly at first, then noticed a mass of deep blue, sparkling energy leave its body, before turning into spikes and stabbing back, causing the bird to shriek, release Deetria, and crash onto the deck.

Goldy exhaled flames at a number of Strigigente approaching him, and they cried out, backing away. Goldy moved forward, breathing more flames, stopped when a Strigigente landed behind him, and jumped forward to avoid a slashing attack from the bird's wing. The enemy released a large blast of ice at Goldy, but he avoided it, leaping to the side, and returned fire. The Strigigente jumped straight into the air and flew about, before swinging a wing, launching a volley of feather darts at Goldy. He curled up, covering his head, and the darts jabbed into the deck all around him. He looked around at the sight, then gulped.

Thystian swung his mallet around with almost no style, yet he continued to hit things. Thystian just blindly melee'd. Suddenly he jumped into the air, and smashed his mallet down on the deck, releasing a shockwave that blew back several of the bird men, launching many into the sea. Astonishingly, the deck took no damage, despite being made of wood. For that matter, Goldy's and Tocsin's flames were not having an effect on the wooden ship either.

By this point, there were only a couple Strigigente remaining, and they had taken a safe perch up in the rigging, unwilling to fight. A single Strigigente stood near the back wall, watching. Thystian looked at him, and rushed forward, mallet ready to swing, but slowed to a stop when the Strigigente just stood there.

"...Gonna fight?" Thystian asked.

"Are you kidding? Hoot..." the owl man replied with a deep voice, "After you trashed the rest of the crew? I'm a rookie, not an idiot, hoot. The CAPTAIN would like to have a 'word' with you however... Hoot!"

Thystian was then swept up in a powerful, compressed cyclone and thrown into the air, before being struck by a very fast attack from a grey streak. He yelled out, plummeting back to the deck and slammed down. Deetria squealed, "Thystian!" and flew toward him, but was snatched mid-air.

She found herself held in the grip of a larger, deep grey Strigigente wearing a regal, sea-blue robe with a hood that cloaked its face. A single, red, glowing eye peered out at her, and she whimpered. "Well well..." it spoke with a quivering, deep, male voice, "What we have here? A young Dimension Dragon? So far from home you are..."

She wriggled in his grip, before releasing Status Waves. The attack failed to have any effect on the powerful Great Grey Strigigente.

"Let her GO!" Tocsin was heard shouting from behind, before releasing an incredible blast of flames that slowly shifted through the color spectrum.

The Great Grey Strigigente dropped Deetria and shot upward, swooped over in a curve in the air, and dove down, striking Tocsin with a talon, inflicting a terrible gash. Tocsin screamed as he slammed into the floor. Deetria squealed in horror, and swooped over to him. He shakily rose into the air, some plasma leaking off his body, and he growled.

"Tocsin..." Deetria whimpered, looking at him closely.

"A touching scene..." The captain said. He then grunted in surprise when Goldy pounced on him and clung to his back, hands covering his eyes.

Goldy developed a mortified look when he could feel that he could reach into one of the eye sockets. The Great Grey Strigigente struggled to get Goldy off, then started spinning, engulfing himself in a cyclone. Goldy cried out, being pulled off and thrown into the back wall of the ship's deck, right next to the rookie Strigigente.

Thystian was up by now, and had his bow aimed at the Great Grey Strigigente, arrow glowing purple.

"Don't... move..." Thystian growled.

The captain looked at him, and emitted a hooting chuckle, before fading from sight. Thystian was then struck again, from behind, and fell forward, releasing the arrow, which flew and stabbed into the lower deck mast. Thystian swung around, swinging his bow, and with a "TWANNNGGG", it hit something, and a grunt was heard. Thystian fired an arrow in the direction of the source, but it hit nothing and few out into the sea.

Deetria realized what was happening, and closed her eyes. Tocsin observed as her body glowed slightly. She then opened her eyes, revealing they were emitting a silver hue. Deetria quickly looked in a direction, and pointed with her tail. Tocsin looked, and he, Thystian and Goldy could see the captain as he rushed along the deck, now transparent.

Thystian chuckled, taking aim again. The captain realized his invisibility had been thwarted, and returned to normal, snarling, before being shot in the shoulder by an electric arrow. He howled as the arrow discharged its electricity into him, and he collapsed onto the deck.

"Aww hoot," the rookie Strigigente griped.

Goldy got to his feet, while Thystian marched over and pointed an arrow at the captain's head. The captain, breathing shakily, looked up, hood still cloaking his face. "Where are the eggs..?" Thystian demanded.

"Eggs... eggs..." the captain muttered, looking forward, before resuming, "Only men there are on this ship, Thystian."

Thystian flinched, then yelled, "How does everyone know my name?!"

The captain pointed a feather at Deetria and replied, "Squealed it she did when you crashed, fool."

Goldy, Tocsin and Deetria approached, Tocsin slowly recovering from the wound. Deetria kept an eye on him, worried. Her eyes had since returned to normal color. Thystian slowly lowered his bow, but kept it at the ready to shoot.

"I'm talking about the Murapuma's eggs, bird!" Thystian said, annoyed.

"Ahh... You seek to return those to their mother... In my cabin the morsels are. You are powerful, Thystian. You may take them back," the captain spoke, remaining where he was.

"Giving up so easy?" Goldy questioned, while Thystian scanned the entire ship for the location of the captain's quarters.

"Growing old I am..." the captain said, "Rely on speed I do, but sometimes speed is not enough... Only a few hits I can take before I am out of breath."

Goldy was quiet for a moment, then commented, "It's a shame you're a bad guy. I get the feeling we could be friends under any other circumstances."

The captain shakily got to his feet, and Thystian aimed his bow again. The captain just stood however. The rookie Strigigente spoke up, "Hoot! Hey! The captain gave you his word! Take the hootin' eggs and be off!"

The defeated Strigigente crew were now beginning to recover, while the overboard were returning to the ship. Thystian was silent, before he headed off to a door in the front wall of the lower deck and went through.

The captain looked at Tocsin and Goldy, and spoke, "Hmm... Clearly not from this world you are."

"Yeah, we're from Earth. We're traveling with Thystian while he collects important elements for his boss," Goldy replied.

"Stop telling him stuff!" Tocsin exclaimed.

The captain chuckled, somewhat weary, and replied, "I have no means of using this information against you. Once Thystian finds the woman's eggs, you may be off, and will never see us again quite likely."

Tocsin was silent, and Goldy noticed as the Strigigente drew near threateningly. They stopped however when the captain fanned his massive wings. He shouted in a strange language, and they backed off, before returning to their duties.

The captain looked at them again. His eye seemed to pass between looking at Tocsin and Deetria. She was still worried about him. The captain chuckled quietly.

Thystian emerged now, and approached. He had since put away his weapon, and stepped up to the captain. "Goldy's right. I sense nobility in you. Why do you act as pirates and kidnap eggs?"

The captain was silent, and walked off without a word. Thystian emitted an annoyed drone, before looking to his friends. "I have the eggs. Let's go."

They acknowledged. Thystian jumped on his hoverboard and disembarked the ship, while Goldy ran, and jumped, to fly. Deetria and Tocsin followed behind. Deetria spoke, quietly, to Tocsin, "Are you ok Tocsin?"

He looked at her, and slowly nodded. He said, "I'll be fine. The bleeding stopped."

Deetria, unsure, just nodded, and flew beside him.

~~03~~

The Murapuma woman sat on the shore, the water gently lapping around her eel half. She could see the conflict on the ship, even witnessing the flames blaze and Strigigente fly off the deck. But once things calmed, she grew worried. Her fear was alleviated however when she saw the group returning from the ship, speeding along over the water.

They soon reached the shore, and she smiled warmly, rising up on her eel-half, now easily at Thystian's height.

Once at shore, Thystian hopped off his board. It slowed to a stop midair, then disappeared. Goldy landed with some difficulty in the sand. Deetria, still close to Tocsin, arrived with him, and they watched.

One at a time, Thystian took out of his inventory at least a dozen slightly ovular, sea-green, soft eggs, and handed them to the woman. She smiled ever more warmly as she took them, nuzzled the first couple, and stored them in some kind of fleshy pouch around her hips. She gazed at Thystian, and spoke, "Please... tell me your names..."

"I am Thystian, and these are Deetria, Tocsin and Goldy," Thystian replied.

"Thystian, Deetria, Tocsin, Goldy... I am eternally grateful to you for saving my eggs. I must reward you somehow..." she said.

She looked through her pouch, then smiled, and took out a pearl. It was at least the size of a golf ball, and shimmered with all colors. It was a Chromatic Pearl. Deetria's eyes sparkled at the sight, and Tocsin noticed this. Thystian accepted the pearl graciously, then stored it. The woman said, "There are more of these somewhere on this beach, Thystian... You might want to consider finding them."

As she said this, she passed a glance at Tocsin and Deetria, with a soft, smiling expression. Tocsin blinked. Deetria was still thinking about the pretty pearl.

"Thank you, ma'am. Take care," Thystian responded.

She surprised Thystian with a hug, then turned and slithered quickly into the water. With a splash, she disappeared below the surface. The group watched for a moment, before Tocsin spoke, "You accept gifts?"

"It's actually rude not to," Thystian replied.

"Hmm... Yeah, that makes sense," Tocsin acknowledged.

~~04~~

Time was continuing to pass, yet the daylight remained.

"How long have we been traveling out here?" Tocsin asked.

"Three hours now. Does anyone need a break?" Thystian asked.

From the water, Goldy swam by the group doing a backstroke, and replied, "Nope! I'm good!"

Deetria splashed by in and out of the water, giggling. Thystian looked at Tocsin as they kept going, and said, "You?"

"I was just asking actually. What time is it here anyway?" he asked.

Thystian checked, then said, "Seventeen forty-four CT."

Tocsin narrowed an eye and replied, "Say what?"

"This planet's days are thirty-six hours long. Eighteen CT is Earth's noon," Thystian explained.

"Ah. This planet is so much like Earth in some ways that I'd forgotten we were in another galaxy," Tocsin said.

Thystian nodded, then stopped. Tocsin stopped, and looked forward. They could see an enormous, one-hundred-foot tall palm tree ahead, right in the middle of the beach. "Well that's a different sight," Thystian commented, and the group approached it.

Upon closer inspection, Deetria said, "Wow! This... I think this is the One Tree. It's supposed to be a mystical gem-coconut-bearing tree! There are rumors all about this tree. The biggest one is that on certain days, the tree will produce six coconuts that are made of gemstones instead of regular plant matter. It's said three of the six coconuts can be used to access a secret grotto on the beach!"

"Ahh, I've heard about that tree in the SPGXA logs. No one ever bothered to attempt to figure out if it was true or not though," Thystian replied.

"I wanna find out!" Deetria squealed.

"We may get the chance," Thystian said as he looked up at the top of the tree. He could see that the six coconuts bunched together up there were six different shades, shimmering in the light.

Deetria squealed in delight, bouncing, looking up, but then stopped. She looked at the group and said, "How are we gonna get them down..?"

Everyone slowly looked at Goldy.

He looked at the group, then developed a panicked expression and exclaimed, "NO WAY! You're not gonna get me to climb all the way up there!"

"I'd offer you a Scooby-snack if I had some," Thystian joked.

Goldy put his fists akimbo and said, "I am not climbing that tree!"

~~05~~

Goldy was halfway up the tree and muttered, "I can't believe I'm climbing this stupid tree..."

Suddenly Goldy's grip on the tree slipped on some sap. He fell with a drawn out scream and hit the sand head first, plunging in halfway. His legs kicked, and he slowly pulled himself out.

He violently spat out a large amount of sand, then sputtered for a moment. He muttered, as he began trying to climb the tree again.

Thystian, Tocsin and Deetria meanwhile were examining the cliff face. They had already noticed that descending down the cliff right by the tree was a massive thicket of vines.

Goldy got to about a third of the way up before a bird landed on his head and pecked at his muzzle. He cried out, flailing at the bird and fell off the tree. The bird squawked in a seemingly laughing manner as Goldy fell with another drawn out scream, and landed feet first in the sand, plunging halfway in. He grunted, then muttered, resting his chin on his hand, elbow on the sand, tapping his fingers in annoyance. The bird landed on his head again, and he resumed flailing at it.

"Hmm... This looks interesting," Tocsin commented, looking at the vine-covered wall. The vines branched out quite a bit, and Tocsin was examining what appeared to be three circular slots in the wall. He drew Thystian's and Deetria's attention to this site.

Goldy was two thirds of the way up the tree when a powerful gust of wind suddenly struck against him. Goldy fell with a drawn out scream to the ground and crashed tail down, plunging most of the way into the sand, his legs brought up to his face. He landed right by the group, and they looked at him. "What are you doing, practicing sand diving or something?" Tocsin asked.

Goldy muttered, struggling to get out of the sand. Thystian grabbed his feet and plucked him free, and Goldy got up. He ran back to the tree and started climbing, this time angrily.

They watched at first, then went back to examining the wall. Deetria commented, "These do look like slots. And they're round like a coconut, so they're probably it! If we can put the right coconuts in, in the right order, it might open the way to a passage or cave or something!"

"Wait... You said there were six coconuts? But there are only three slots? And they have to be in the right order?? Man, the combination potential is huge... We could be here a while," Thystian said, "Are you sure you want-"

"I wanna!" Deetria exclaimed. Thystian sighed, though very little annoyance could be detected.

The group then heard Goldy cheer and laugh. They looked up, seeing him standing on the top of the tree, fists raised in the air. "I CONQUERED THE ONE TREE!" he shouted, before yelping and staggering, trying not to fall off.

Thystian chuckled.

Goldy stood at the top of the towering tree, staggering occasionally as the tree swayed with the wind. He looked around, visoring his eyes. He first looked off shore, and could see some large sea animals swimming by. He saw what appeared to be a pair of huge eye-like objects in the water, though they blipped under as soon as he faced them. He looked in another direction, and spotted the fanciest yacht he'd ever seen casually traveling in the water northward. He turned his vision inland, and could see over the cliff face, taking in the view of a vast, seemingly endless meadow. It was cut off in some points in the distance by thick foresting highlighted with various shades of purple. He noticed the vines climbing down the cliff face in front of the tree. They appeared to be producing flowers. The top third's flowers were red, while the middle third were yellow. The bottom vines had no flowers, but were just green. Goldy looked onward, and could see a vast mountain range on the horizon, bearing a purple hue in the distance fog. He could also see a large flock of what looked like huge bats traveling through the sky. Turning a little more, he spotted the creepiest-looking mountain he'd ever seen. Almost like a volcano, it was completely separate from the rest of the mountain range, was covered in dead foresting, and had thick, gloom-inducing clouds hanging over it. A bolt of lightning cracked down from the cloud. Turning still more, he saw a tower amidst the untouched land. High in the sky above it, was a nearly invisible, dome-shaped structure of glass floating in the air. Upon nearly reaching a full three-hundred and sixty-degree rotation, he noticed some thicker clouds further south over the beach.

"...I could stay up here forever..." Goldy remarked, awed by the beauty of the land and loving the fresh air and steady oceanic breeze.

"Send down the coconuts!" Thystian shouted from the ground far below. Goldy started to grumble, and muttered, "Note to self: Once back home, talk Enigma into getting a hundred-foot-tall tree. Then build a tree house..."

Goldy proceeded to kick the coconuts from where he stood at the top of the tree. With six separate thumps, the huge gemstones landed in the sand. First a powerfully red Ruby, then a shimmering green Emerald, then a sparkling white Diamond, then a deep purple Amethyst, then a soulful blue Sapphire, and finally a glistening yellow Topaz.

Goldy hopped off the tree, and descended slowly, using his wings to slow his fall. Mid-way down, he realized he probably could have used his wings to slow his fall in the first place. He facepalmed.

Thystian walked over and inspected the gemstones, then hefted them over to the vine-covered wall. Deetria lay on the diamond one, hugging it. Tocsin blinked.

"Well... might as well get started on this..." Thystian muttered, as he began picking up Coconuts and fitting them in the slots.

First he tried Amethyst, Diamond, Emerald; nothing. Then he tried Emerald, Diamond, Ruby; nothing. He tried Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire; nothing. Ruby, Sapphire, Topaz; nothing. Sapphire, Topaz, Amethyst; nothing. The massive gemstones were beginning to get heavy, and Thystian quickly grew frustrated with this.

"There has got to be an easier way to figure this out. Anyone have any ideas?" he asked.

The group mumbled a bit, and Goldy thought. He seemed to remember seeing three colors at one point, but couldn't remember where. He looked around while Thystian gave his arms a rest and Deetria lay on the Diamond some more. Goldy kept looking around, and then at the vines. He looked up at them, vision rising to the top, and his eyes widened. "Look!" he said, pointing.

The group looked up at the vines. "...So?" Tocsin asked.

"No, wait! I think I see it!" Thystian exclaimed.

He saw that the top of the vines were deep red, the middle level vines were yellow, and the bottom cluster was green. He then put the coconuts in: Ruby, Topaz, Emerald.

They stepped back when the cliff face began to quake. The coconuts converted into regular plant matter, causing Deetria to whimper as she lay now on an ordinary coconut. She rose back into the air.

The section of wall with the three slots began to sink into the ground, as it shook. All of the flowers on the vines broke loose and showered the group in a confetti of petals. Deetria's sadness faded immediately and she giggled, flitting about the shower of flowers.

Once the passage was clear, they peered into the tunnel, hearing flowing water and dripping sounds emitting from it. They looked at each other.

"Weird, huh?" Thystian asked.

"In we go!" Deetria squealed, as she flew in.

"W-wait!" Tocsin shouted, following her in. Thystian and Goldy headed in immediately after.

~~06~~

Deetria had slowed down as she flew into this cave. The ground all around was a light shade of brown, and there were numerous vines emerging from the walls. They could hear water flowing in the distance, and dripping water everywhere. It quickly got dark, as they moved forward, Thystian and Goldy stepping carefully.

The initial section sloped downward slightly, then flattened out and curved to the right. Thystian, noticing the growing darkness, activated his suit lights. The normally dim-glowing green highlights began to glow a more powerful green, producing a sort of light radius around the group.

They could see water flowing quietly out of a small hole in a wall, and into a pool that spanned the entire cave passage. They continued through this, Thystian having to push hanging vines out of the way. The cave curved back to the left a bit, and they noticed a wall of falling water ahead. Tocsin grew nervous around all this water, but Deetria, noticing, got above him in the air. He looked up at her, and she looked back with a cheery expression. He realized she was providing him with cover, and his expression softened.

They passed through the wall of falling water, and Thystian and Goldy plunged into a deep pool. Deetria shrieked. Goldy then bobbed to the surface and gasped. He yelped when he was lifted out of the water on Thystian's shoulders.

"Ow!" Goldy yelled, "That comb of yours is sharp!"

"Whoops... Sorry," Thystian replied, and he threw Goldy out of the water. Goldy blatted up against a wall, and slowly slid down. Deetria and Tocsin approached Goldy. Thystian climbed out while Goldy got up, seemingly unconcerned about being thrown. He looked back, then past Thystian, and started to stammer, eyes widening. He raised a hand, pointing. Tocsin and Deetria looked back, and Deetria screamed.

Thystian spoke, "...There's a crab monster behind me, isn't there?"

The other three yelled in unison, "YES!!"

Thystian jumped forward to avoid a slash attack to his back, then swung around to see the enemy. It indeed was a huge crab. This one was somewhat unusual though. It had a body about as big as Goldy, but its major size source was all in its legs. Its eight main legs were at least four feet to each joint, with huge two-foot spike tips. Its pincer legs were five feet to each joint, ending in small-for-a-crab pincers, but they were razor sharp. Its mandibles chewed, and a small flame could be seen in its mouth.

"Kaempfury... Fire-bellowing spider crab..." Thystian stated.

The creature confirmed this, blazing intense red flames at the group. Thystian had very little room to avoid, jumping to the side, but still getting half of his armor inflicted. Goldy fell backwards and rolled down a slope and into a pool a short distance back. Deetria backed away, while Tocsin rushed forward to absorb the flames. He glowed red, before returning them back at the crab. It backed quickly behind the waterfall to avoid contact, then stepped forward again, before slashing extremely fast at Tocsin. He narrowly managed to avoid the first attack, then flew away when the creature snapped at him. Thystian rushed forward to strike the creature with an upward swing of his mallet, but plunged into the pool the creature was standing over. It looked down at him, then back at the group, in time to see a plasma ball from Tocsin fly up and explode. The creature emitted a piercing shriek, heavily wounded. It staggered slightly, before blazing flames at them. Tocsin again absorbed the attack, and returned the fire. And once again the Kaempfury ducked behind the waterfall to block. Tocsin, getting annoyed, flinched when an arrow shot up out of the water and stabbed up through the crab's soft underside. It gurgled, before collapsing and slipping into the water.

Thystian surfaced, and climbed out. He looked at Tocsin, who said, "You sure know your monsters."

"They're just animals," Thystian said, "They prey on anything, considering the scant amount of food out here. And yeah, I have a full bestiary recorded in my suit's logbook."

Tocsin nodded, before they all resumed forward progress.

Deeper into the tunnel, they entered a wider area, where a small river was passing along side the passage they were traveling. More vines, more stalactites, one of which Thystian ran his head into, and more water flowing from holes in the walls.

A deep hiss was heard, and everyone stopped, looking around for the source. They saw water spraying out of a pool in a mini geyser. Tocsin approached to look at this, then blinked when it stopped. The group walked over, and broke into a shout when some kind of huge eel with a maw full of hooked teeth lashed out of the water, snapped its long mouth over Tocsin's entire body, and reeled him back into the water.

"TOCSIN!!!" Deetria screamed at the top of her tiny lungs, rushing over to the water. "Tocsin, no..." she whimpered, eyes tearing up.

"What was that?!" Goldy yelled, and Thystian was drawing his bow quickly, heading to the pool.

He skidded to a stop however, and Deetria backed away, wide-eyed, when the pool began to glow a bright white. With an incredible blast, the pool was evaporated, and Tocsin shot straight up from it. He oozed plasma from his body everywhere, heavily scarred, eyes wincing. He flopped to the ground. Deetria swooped over and nudged his head with her nose. "Tocsin... Please say something... Do something..."

He groaned, "Pain..."

Deetria whimpered, looking at the others.

Goldy said, "...I hope my flames will be enough to help... They aren't super intense like Enigma's."

Deetria moved away as Goldy blazed Tocsin with his flames. After a second, he stopped, and Tocsin looked a little better. "Ok?" Goldy asked.

"A bit..." Tocsin groaned, rising into the air.

Deetria looked happy again, and flew circles around Tocsin. Thystian, putting away his bow, grumbled, "I knew I should have stocked some healing items. Next chance I get, I'm going to do just that."

"What was that thing, anyway?" Tocsin asked, checking himself.

"Muridon Eel. Nothing more than an overgrown Moray. Judging by the fact that water spouted the way it did, I'd say they probably use those as lures for potential prey," Thystian answered.

"Right... Stay away from spouts..." Goldy remarked. The group nodded, then continued on.

They could hear the sound of louder flowing water, deeper in the tunnel, as they continued, passing through an area thickly entrenched in vines. Goldy couldn't help but remark, "There is a LOT of water in this cave considering it's below dry land."

Thystian spoke, "Actually, most of Orchid Country rests over caverns like these. They're separated into various areas, and there's a Water Palace and some Crypts in other sectors of the region. We probably won't get a chance to see them, but it is believed the reason why Orchid County is so fertile and abundant in plant and animal life is because of these water channels passing everywhere under here."

Deetria commented, "The water is so fresh and pure... It's beautiful."

Thystian nodded. By now the group had descended at least a hundred feet or so underground, and the group could see that they were entering a widening chamber. The roaring of falling water could be heard as they entered the chamber, and they stopped in awe at the sight. The passage continued on into the middle of an underground shaft, forming a circular platform with large gaps between the edges and the walls. The ceiling was a couple hundred feet above, covered in spikes, and a void was amongst them. Water was pouring out of large gaps in the walls, down the sides, and into the shaft. Goldy, getting to all fours, peered over the edge, and saw they were standing on a bridge of stone. He could not see the bottom of the shaft. The platform of stone in the center of the shaft also reached into the black void below. Tocsin and Deetria resumed a forward drift, and Thystian started to follow.

A screech was heard, and Tocsin, Deetria and Goldy looked, and in horror witnessed Thystian being grabbed by some kind of solid black flying creature with red glowing eyes. The creature flew up, carrying a struggling Thystian. From what could be made out in the darkness, the creature bore a fusion appearance of a pterodactyl, a bat and some kind of hawk. Either way, it had a long, needle-sharp beak that was curved and fanged, and huge talons on its loose feet, while its arms consisted of fleshy bat wings with large claws at each finger bone. Thystian grunted, before drawing his mallet, and striking the creature. It screeched, before stabbing Thystian with its beak. Thystian yelled, then hit it again. This exchange of blows continued, as the creature flew around, and proceeded to thrust Thystian against a wall and drag him against it, breaking rocks loose as it did. Thystian's body vibrated violently against the wall, and his suit started to spark. The creature stopped this attack, and Thystian resumed smashing his mallet against it. Somehow it was able to take all of these hits and still stay airborne. It screeched at Thystian, the air distorting from the incredible sonic waves. Thystian groaned, severely damaged, and one last time smashed the creature's head with his mallet. It finally released him, and Thystian fell, before crashing into the platform. Surprisingly, it stayed intact. Everyone rushed over to him. "Thystian!!" Deetria squealed.

Thystian slowly got to his hands and knees, looked up, pointed, then flopped onto his face. They looked, and saw the creature swoop down, before screeching at the entire group, the sonic waves damaging. They all fell to the ground, screaming from the waves. When it stopped, Goldy, head pounding, climbed to his feet, and released flames at the creature. It screamed at the sight, and flew away from the flames, going back to circling the chamber from above. Goldy turned and tried to get Thystian to wake up, while Tocsin looked at Deetria.

"We fight this thing, and we win," Tocsin said, determined.

Deetria narrowed her eyes, and nodded. The two tiny dragons then flew up toward the monstrous creature. Tocsin released more flames at it, and it fled from them. Deetria released Status Waves, but the creature avoided these as well. It swooped downward, then swung back up and behind them, before zooming past, attempting to snap up Tocsin mid-air. Tocsin, seeing it coming, converted to ball plasma, and let himself be snapped up. At the same time, Deetria hit the creature with Status Waves. The creature's glowing red eyes suddenly dimmed, and it started screeching and flying blinding, before running into a spike and falling to the platform below. Tocsin, still in its mouth, then blasted his flames outward, and severely damaged the creature's head from the inside. It screeched, spitting Tocsin back out, and staggered to its feet. It looked around, blind, and started swiping at the air and pecking, then released sonic waves. Deetria swooped down, and watched as Goldy walked over and jumped, smacking it in the head with his tail. It staggered back, to the edge of the platform. Tocsin rose up, eyes still narrowed. Goldy pointed, eyes also narrowed, and Tocsin charged forward, converted to ball form, and slammed the creature's chest area. It screeched, falling over the edge, bashed against the back wall, and was pushed down into the shaft by the heavy, falling water. Its screeching echoed into oblivion in the shaft, and faded away.

Not willing to take the time to cheer, the group rushed back to Thystian. He was slowly getting up now, and Deetria squealed, "Thystian! Will you be ok?!"

Thystian held out a hand to them, then pointed to his helmet, not making a sound. Deetria whined, "His suit's systems are dead... He'll need a minute..."

Thystian slowly moved to sit, his heavily damaged suit slowly repairing itself.

The group detected the sound of a small, hard object falling to the ground. They looked back, and saw, shimmering, in the center of the platform, another Chromatic Pearl. Goldy walked over, and picked it up.

"Another one of these? All that for this? ...They must have some kind of special purpose..." he remarked.

Deetria was again starry-eyed, looking at the shiny pearl. She kept her eyes on it as Goldy walked back. Tocsin noticed her reaction, and began thinking to himself. Goldy held it out to Thystian, who took it, and stored it. Thystian checked a tiny panel on his left arm, and tried to speak, "_SHHtinSHH_. Tes_SHH_g... _SHH_- Two. Three. There we go. Vision's still a little fuzzy, but..."

He stood up, his armor slowly closing the horrible gashes and punctures. "That is some impressive armor..." Goldy commented.

"Shock absorption helps... I've got a terrible headache, thanks to that Ropen Illusory, but I'll be ok. And we got a second Chromatic Pearl. Guess that woman was correct. We should see if we can find another," Thystian said, as he walked to the exit of the chamber. He stopped, however, and looked at the group. He said, "By the way... Thanks..."

Goldy smiled and nodded, as did Tocsin. Deetria flew over and glomped Thystian's chest, looking up at him. "We look out for each other," Deetria said, cutely.

Thystian nodded, and the group moved to leave the cave.

~~07~~

Upon reaching the exit to the cave, the group could see that it had begun to rain. The rain was rather strong for that matter, and there was a wind boding of evil. The surf splashed onto shore, and thunder rumbled.

"Rain..." Deetria said, a gloomy tone to her voice. "Does rain hurt you too, Tocsin?" she asked, looking at him.

"...No. It's not the same as being submerged in water," he replied. She nodded.

Thystian looked out onto shore. He could see that the rain reached a great distance in every direction. He looked at the group and asked, "Shall we go ahead out into it?"

"Why not? None of us have anything to ruin in the rain," Goldy replied.

"Everyone agree?" Thystian then asked.

Everyone nodded. Thystian nodded back, and the group walked out into the rain, before turning and heading down the beach southward.

Shortly after the group moved onward, a pair of stalk-like eyes popped out of the water a short distance off shore, and looked at them. They looked forward, and around, before dropping into the water again. A second later, Goldy stopped, looked back in their direction, failed to notice, and slowly resumed walking.

~~08~~

The thunder rumbled, lightning flashing in the sky. The wind drove the rain against the group hard, as they walked, and Goldy yelled when a wave crashed onto shore that nearly knocked him and Thystian over. Tocsin was shivering, as if cold, and Deetria, concerned, moved to float over him and act as an umbrella of sorts. It helped a little. He looked up at her again. She displayed that same cheery expression as last time. He looked forward again, and they moved on.

The group pressed on through the vicious rain. The sky lit up with lightning for a second, and thunder boomed following. It seemed as though the center of the storm was directly over them. Another wave roared up onto the beach, and tried to drag Goldy off into the water, but he scrambled against the current and got back to the group.

"This rain... it's scary..." Deetria commented, hovering over Tocsin, "It's making me nervous..."

"Wouldn't any storm make you nervous?" Tocsin asked.

"No, storms normally make me sad... But this storm... feels unnatural... I feel like... I'm being watched," Deetria replied.

"Now that you mention it, I feel that too," Goldy added, looking around nervously.

The group was quiet for a few minutes, trudging onward.

"Hang on a sec..." Goldy muttered, stopping to rake the sludge-like sand off his feet.

The others looked around, and Thystian suddenly exclaimed, "Ahead... AHEAD! I see the end of the cliffs!"

Indeed, ahead, the group could see that the cliffs started to slope sharply downward in the distance. Barely visible through the rain, they could see tall grass stalks, and the access to the meadow. They started to run for it, but stopped, Goldy slipping in the sand and landing face down, when they noticed a huge bulge forming in the water. A massive set of four legs reached out, and the water slowly poured off, revealing an infernal crab monster the size of a house. It slowly stepped sideways onto the beach, blocking the group's path. It possessed an unnatural crab mouth, which more resembled that of a shark. It was thickly armor plated, the armor forming spiked ridges along its back. Its pincers were narrow, but filled with spines and the claws themselves ended in needle-sharp tips. It opened its mouth, and roared, the only other sound capable of overriding its noise being the thunder itself. A bolt of lightning cracked in the sky behind it, creating a terrifying image.

Goldy looked up, then buried his head in the sand in fear. Deetria just screamed, loud. Tocsin's eyes widened. Thystian stood silent.

"...Brachy'Ire... I thought that beast was just a legend..." Thystian said quietly.

Deetria, utterly terrified, hid behind Tocsin, who was stunned in fear himself.

"M... maybe if... if we don't move, it won't see us?" Deetria asked, innocently.

"It sees us..." Tocsin said, noticing that the creature was beginning to foam at the mouth, breathing noisily, its pincers ready to strike the moment anyone actually did move.

"This thing needs to be slain... It's a threat to the sanctuary of this beach..." Thystian said, deadly serious, and drew his mallet. He leapt forward. The creature immediately swung a claw, and smashed Thystian, launching him far out into the water.

Goldy peeked out of the sand, the rain washing it off his head. He screamed, leaping out of the way as the monstrous creature smashed a claw down right where Goldy was. Deetria, too terrified to fight, fled back some distance. Tocsin looked back at her, then forward. "...How in the world... do we fight a thing like this?" he whispered.

Suddenly Thystian's mallet came flying in, and slammed into the side of the creature, causing it to jolt. Tocsin saw Thystian speeding back to the shore, on his hoverboard. The mallet returned to Thystian, and one of the creature's eyes looked out at him. It pointed a claw at Thystian, who was blasted by an upward spout of water, launching him into the sky. Tocsin caught the creature off guard, releasing a plasma orb into its mouth. The blast caused the creature to merely jolt, and it thrusted a claw at him to stab. Fortunately, Tocsin's tiny size in comparison to this huge beast made him all but impossible to hit. He noticed this, and his confidence returned. He quickly swooped forward, and blazed flames on the creature. It seemed to ignore this, and swung a claw at Tocsin. Thystian could be seen landing in the water some distance off with a splash.

Deetria peeked out from behind a rock, and could see that Tocsin could not be hit by the creature. She hid again, panting, terrified, and started chanting, "Gotta be brave... Gotta be brave... Nnngh!"

She swooped out from behind the rock, and flew toward Tocsin, squealing. Goldy, taking a chance while the creature was distracted, blasted more flames at it from another angle. It raised a claw high, and slammed it down on Goldy with a wet thud. When it raised its claw, Goldy was pressed into the sand, laying on his back. He twitched.

Thystian's mallet came crashing down on the creature from an upward angle, and it jolted again. Tocsin continued flying about, blazing flames on it, trying to find a weak point. Deetria swooped in and released Status Waves. The creature suddenly slowed down dramatically. Its swings were pathetically slow, and Tocsin could just list lazily to the left to avoid a swing from a claw. Deetria giggled, her confidence building. Thystian landed on the back of the creature, and began slamming his mallet on it crazily. Tocsin flew down to Goldy, and spoke, "Get on the creature while it's slowed! I have an idea!"

Goldy nodded, and scrambled up one of the terribly slow-moving claws, and onto its back. Tocsin and Deetria followed. With everyone up there, Tocsin announced, "I and Goldy will breathe flames on ONE SPOT. When it's soft enough, you can break through!"

Thystian nodded, and stood by. Goldy and Tocsin both inhaled deeply, and blazed forth the most intense flames they could muster. They kept it going as long as they could. The casing of the crab began to glow red, then orange, and reached white, before Goldy passed out and Tocsin had to stop, shivering again. Thystian quickly raised his mallet, and yelled in an alien language. The mallet turned solid purple, and he slammed it down with such intense force that the crab was shoved into the ground. The heated shell casing practically disintegrated under the hit. Tocsin and Goldy where unable to attack for the moment, so Thystian switched to his bow and began firing arrows into the sensitive flesh of the beast. It began to roar loudly in pain, coming out of the effect of the slow condition. Thystian landed several different arrows into the flesh, doing intense damage, before he looked back and saw the crab reaching behind itself with its claws. It quickly scraped them over its shell, throwing everyone forward and to the ground in front of it. Goldy landed limp, still unconscious, while Thystian landed on his side, and Deetria and Tocsin landed in the air. They all watched as the creature, a look of fury in its eyes, raised a claw high to smash them. Thystian held up a hand almost out of instinctive reaction, but slowly lowered it upon seeing the next sight.

A bolt of lighting, very large, struck the crab's claw and held for at least five seconds, electrocuting the gargantuan beast. It roared in pain, the roar slowly winding up into a high pitched screech, before its claw exploded and the arm connected to it exploded. Thystian lunged out to snatch Tocsin and Deetria from the air, and covered them and Goldy with himself as the entire crab exploded. The blast was so intense it blew a crater into the sandy beach, and blew a chunk out of the cliff directly next to it.

~~09~~

The rain was now mingled with chunks of crab flesh and pieces of shell plating. The storm seemed to be concluding now, almost as if the presence of the Brachy'Ire was what triggered it in the first place. Thystian slowly raised himself onto his knees, holding Deetria and Tocsin. Goldy, awakened by the blast, peeked out around Thystian. They all looked back, watching as the crater filled with ocean water, forming a new pool. They looked at each other, and Thystian slowly climbed to his feet, releasing Tocsin and Deetria into the air. Goldy slowly stood up, and the group looked at the sky, watching as the clouds began to fade away, the surf calming, and the wind easing.

"The legend was true..." Thystian said, quietly.

"What legend?" Goldy inquired.

"That Brachy'Ire, the megalithic crab of Westria Sea, could control the weather, and summon storms. Apparently that power ended up turning against him in the end," Thystian finished.

"I'd say so..." Tocsin responded.

"Look!" Deetria squealed, pointing to the pool with her tail. The group looked, and began to approach the pool. In the center, floating on the rising water, was a third Chromatic Pearl.

Deetria squealed in glee. Goldy, volunteering, entered the pool and swam to the center. He collected the Pearl, and swam back to the edge. He climbed out and handed it to Thystian. He knelt, holding it in his hand, and was silent for a moment. Goldy stood in front of his hand, looking at it. Tocsin and Deetria looked at it from either side. "...Scanning?" Tocsin asked.

Thystian nodded. He then said, "Ahh... Yes. Three."

He took the other two Pearls out of his inventory, and placed them in his hand. When all three pearls made contact, they began to glow brightly. The group watched in amazement, as the pearls fused, and with a flash and sparkles, took the shape of a chromatically colored Pearl Heart. Thystian scanned. Goldy was awed. Deetria's eyes shimmered at the sight. Tocsin looked at it, as it floated in the air over Thystian's hand, slowly rotating. Tocsin then looked at Deetria, seeing the sparkles in her eyes. He then performed a bold action. Floating forward, he gripped the heart between his feet, and floated over to Deetria. Goldy and Thystian watched, the latter lowering his hand. "Deetria..." Tocsin began, "Would you... like to have this... from me?"

Goldy tried to suppress a grin. Thystian, on the other hand, developed, hidden in his helmet, a very warm smile. Deetria's eyes practically lit up, as she squealed, "YES! Oh Tocsin! That is so wonderful of you! Thank you!"

She caught everyone off guard when she pressed her face against the side of Tocsin's. Judging by his reaction, it was clear that she actually kissed him with her tiny mouth. Tocsin looked at her, eyes widened, then softly narrowed them, his affection for her now clearly evident. He then passed the Pearl Heart to Deetria. She took it between her feet, very happy, giggling.

She stopped, with an, "Oh?" The Pearl Heart moved out from between her feet, flew a few circles around her and settled in the air over her, before receding into her body. She cooed in a hypnotic manner, and her entire body began to glow powerfully. She slowly raised her head high, eyes closed, as a strange energy formation began to grow out of her forehead. The formation began to take the shape of a two inch long feather. With a flash, Deetria squealed, and the group was engulfed in light. The others were forced to shield their eyes. When the light cleared, they looked back. There, Deetria floated, having formed a beautiful chromatic feather, currently standing up straight from her forehead. Her eyes were still closed. The energy surge began to fade. She lowered her head, and slowly opened her eyes. The feather gently descended down to lay across the back of her head and some of the top of her upper neck. Everyone was completely silent. Deetria spoke, "Tocsin... You are so sweet..."

She drifted over, and nuzzled him, before resuming, "I have Light element powers now. And it's all thanks to you. Thank you."

Tocsin was astonished. Goldy slowly looked at Thystian, who was nodding. "She does indeed. As a Dimension Dragon, she can absorb superunique artifacts, which change the properties of her DNA. The Pearl Heart has granted her Light element powers, which are symbolized by the feather on her head."

"Feather?" Deetria asked, not actually aware of the feather. She floated over and looked into her reflection in the now full pool. She made her feather stand upright, and she squealed in delight. "It's so pretty!"

She moved back to Tocsin, and asked, "Isn't it pretty? Do you like it?"

Tocsin, looking at it, then looked at her, and said, "I love it."

Deetria giggled almost hyperly, and flew circles around him. Thystian stood upright, looking out at the meadow ahead.

"The beach has been lovely. Now, it is time for us to head out into Silviprim Meadow. We may have to search far and wide, but out there, somewhere, is a special tree. And beneath that tree is a cavern. And inside that cavern, is the Essence Rit'seiwa, the next element I need," he announced.

"Onward!" Goldy called, feeling charged up by their success on the beach.

The group marched around the large pool in the beach, through some water, off the beach, and out into the meadow ahead. The sun shone brightly upon them as they went.

END

Dragon Tails © Tim Dawson

Wenonah Galaxy © Adrian Smith


	5. 05: Breeze of Peace

Roseus Elementeus

Chapter Five – Breeze of Peace

~~00~~

The sounds of the shore now faded. Taking its place, the calls of insects and birds echoed across the vast expanse of rolling land. Ahead of them, nearly as far as the eye could see, was a meadow. Its dominant color was clearly a lovely golden yellow, though patches of different kinds of flowers could be seen as well. The only changes to be seen, were on the horizon. Off to the north was a forest, and off, ahead to the east, was the mountain range Goldy had seen before. As they walked, in a casual pace, Goldy pointed to the deathly dark mountain off to the south, and Thystian nodded.

"That thing stands out like a graveyard in a playground..." Goldy commented.

Deetria and Tocsin looked as well, and while Tocsin narrowed an eye, Deetria seemed undisturbed by the mountain's wretched appearance.

Thystian spoke, "That is the Deadly Cuties' mountain. A mobile - believe it or not - mountain, at the peak of which is an orphanage acting as a front for a team of 'evil' little girls. They're actually the daughters of the man that rules this land."

"You say 'evil' as if they aren't," Tocsin replied.

Deetria giggled, and Tocsin looked at her. She said, "They like to think they're evil, and put up a scary appearance. But, they are still on the side of the light."

"So, anti-heroes?" Goldy inquired. Deetria and Thystian both nodded.

Goldy brought a hand to his chin, with a thoughtful expression. Thystian noted, "We aren't going there though. It'd take us a good day and a half to reach there. The way this land is, you can walk for hours and never find anything but grass, flowers and the occasional tree."

A butterfly flitted by, and Deetria watched, with a happy expression. Tocsin observed her reaction, and took note again of the new feather on her head. It was an interesting change. Because of it, Tocsin no longer felt as though he was interacting with a female, pink version of himself. Deetria caught him gazing at her feather, and giggled quietly. Tocsin blinked.

The group continued their forward stroll. By this point the sounds of the shore had passed out of range. They slowly climbed a small hill, and stopped at its crest. They looked around the land, and could see nothing but glorious yellow capped by the blue sky. They watched as the wind blew, rolling over the grasses and plants, which leaned in it. It was a beautiful sight. Goldy plopped into a sitting position, gazing. "Thystian, I swear, when we get back home, I am definitely gonna want to bring my brothers here somehow. This planet indeed is a paradise. I've never SEEN a land more beautiful," he said, awed.

Thystian nodded, standing at the crest of the hill, looking around slowly. Deetria watched as a flock of curious birds with gem-encrusted bodies flew off into the sky. She sighed contently. "The water was fun, but this place is almost more so!" she exclaimed.

"Paradise planet... Nothing could describe this place better. It's a bit of a shame we will eventually have to leave," Tocsin said, watching as wind blew over the grass, and a breeze passed the group with a gentle rush.

Deetria could see a large development of flowers in the distance, and felt strongly drawn to them. She looked at Thystian, then back out at the flowers.

"Well, we might actually end up being here for a while..." Thystian said, sounding slightly concerned. He was slowly panning his head, as if searching for something.

"Yeah?" Goldy responded, looking up at him.

"I... have no idea where our destination is out here..." Thystian finished.

Goldy looked at him, then back out. After a couple of minutes of breeze-filled silence, Goldy asked, "Do you know what you're looking for exactly?"

"Yeah," Thystian said, "It's a large tree, easily recognizable by the Rit'Seiwa vines that grow all over it. They have a purple shade to them. The tree is growing on a sharp incline, and there is a small grotto, the Rooty Grotto, that has formed beneath it."

"It's not going to be full of sea monsters and giant bats too, is it?" Tocsin asked, remembering being nearly eaten last time he went into a cave.

"I wouldn't know. I know it's out there somewhere, but I have no idea what's inside aside from the Essence Rit'seiwa," Thystian replied.

Everyone returned to silence. By now Deetria was shaking with eagerness. Tocsin noticed, and said, "What is wrong Deetria?"

Thystian and Goldy looked at her. She replied, "I wanna frolic in the flowers! Please, can I frolic in the flowers?"

Thystian chuckled, and responded, "Sure. Go ahead. I won't be leaving this spot until I can locate that tree."

Turning, Deetria squealed in delight, and zoomed off, down toward the flower patch near the base of the hill the group had stopped at. Tocsin watched, then looked at Thystian. Without even needing to be asked, Thystian nodded at Tocsin. Tocsin turned, and followed Deetria.

Thystian turned his head back, and took out of his inventory some kind of large metal stake with a device attached to its top. Goldy looked at it, and watched as Thystian stuck it into the ground, and activated the device. It trilled and beeped, and began generating an oscillating cone of transparent energy that swept out over the land.

"Mapping device," Thystian stated. Goldy just nodded.

~~01~~

"WHEEH!" Deetria squealed with a happy giggle. She swooped into a thick patch of flowers, the leaves and some petals flying up into the air in almost a splash-like manner. Tocsin drifted down to the patch and watched as Deetria rose out of the flowers, covered in petals. She giggled, shaking them off, then flitted around amongst the flowers. She brought her head close to one, then yipped when a bee flew out, and away.

She giggled some more, and "ooh"ed at the sight of a butterfly passing. She began to follow the butterfly as it flitted about erratically amongst the flowers. It landed on one, and she drew close, looking. "So pretty..." she cooed.

Tocsin's affection grew for Deetria as he watched her frolic. Her chromatic feather glistened in the shining sun. A breeze blew through gently. The butterfly began to fly again, and Deetria giggled, following it.

She noticed two more butterflies fluttering about, and the two joined the third. Tocsin snickered quietly as he watched numerous butterflies seemingly congregate around Deetria. The little Dimension Dragon was having the time of her life, frolicking amongst the butterflies.

The shimmering insects landed on various flowers. Deetria noticed a small praying mantis clinging to a tall stalk of grass. She drifted close, and the insect looked directly at her. "Hee... You're not nearly as scary as those giant mechanical versions, little bug!" she said with a giggle.

The Mantis opened its wings and flew away, as Deetria watched. She noticed the butterflies take to the air, and flitted amongst them again, swooping about the flowers.

They again landed on other flowers. Deetria, overcome with joy, stuck her head into one of the flowers near the cluster of insects. Tocsin stayed within a close range of her, making sure she didn't get out of his sight. He observed as she rubbed her head around inside the flower. She pulled it out, and looked at Tocsin. Her head and some of her feather were covered in pollen.

Tocsin laughed quietly, and said, "That's cute. You covered your head in pollen. Gonna spread it around too?"

Deetria abruptly sneezed casting the pollen was off of her. It ended up covering Tocsin. He blinked in surprise, and Deetria giggled. She drew closer, and replied, "Maybe you could do it instead?"

Tocsin shook off the pollen. Deetria giggled some more, flying a couple of circles around him. She surprised Tocsin by tickling him under the chin with her tail. He twitched in surprise, making Deetria giggle even more.

She swooped off to frolic amongst the flowers again. Tocsin watched, his expression softened by the little display of affection Deetria had shown for him.

As Deetria flitted about, she noticed a different source of light amongst the grass near the flowers. She turned, looking in its direction. It seemed to be generated by an object within the grass. She drifted toward it. Tocsin, noticing her sudden interest in something, moved to catch up with her and followed.

"Do you see that light?" Deetria asked, curious.

Tocsin replied, "Yes. What do you think it is?"

Deetria looked at Tocsin, and said, "Let's find out!"

She moved toward the glow quickly, Tocsin moving to keep up.

Upon exiting the flower bed and entering the grass, Deetria worked her way through the tall, pale yellow plants. She could hear the sound of a faint energy drone. Curiouser and curiouser she grew. Tocsin, concerned for her safety, kept alert. The two suddenly came upon a small opening in the grass, and found the source of the glow. It appeared to be a circular hole in the ground, though it was glowing with a strong white light and releasing sparkles into the air.

"Oooooo..." Deetria cooed, "It's a ground portal!"

"More portals?" Tocsin asked, concerned, "Where does this one go?"

Deetria looked at him, cheery, and replied, "Ground portals lead to special chambers under the ground. Let's find out where it goes!"

She moved to dive into the portal, but jolted to a stop, and looked back to see that Tocsin had wrapped his tail around hers to hold her in place. "Now wait a minute... Are you sure it's safe? We could be wandering right into a trap for some crazy monster or something..." Tocsin warned.

Deetria didn't seem to hear a word he said, her face just a little pinker at the fact he'd wrapped his tail around hers. She looked at this, and Tocsin noticed her distraction. He unwrapped his tail quickly, but Deetria turned and looked at him closely. "...What?" he asked, "You did that just a few hours ago at the beach..."

She spoke softly, "Yes, but that was me to you... You've saved me so many times, you gave me that Pearl Heart, and now you wrap your tail around mine... Tocsin? Do you like me?"

Tocsin's face grew whiter. In his case, this was a form of blushing. His eyes also widened, and he looked to the side, stammering just slightly. Deetria's face drew closer, and she repeated, "Do you like me Tocsin? Do you really like me?"

Tocsin stammered, "I... ah... Well, I sorta... Yeah... I... kinda do."

Deetria squealed, resulting in a heavy flinch on Tocsin's part. She started prancing around him, squealing happily and chanting, "I've got a boyfriend! I've got a boyfriend!" in a singsong manner.

Tocsin, in shock once again, tried to watch her as she did this. He recovered after a second though, and said, "In all honesty, I was beginning to think you didn't even notice."

Deetria brought her face right up in front of him, making him flinch once more, and replied, "Hee hee... I notice a lot more things than you realize."

She fell silent, blinked, then squealed, "So THAT'S why you asked how 'Thystian and I worked'! How cute! Tocsin was jealous!"

"NO! I-"

"That's so cute! You're so cute!" She squealed, flying circles around him.

She stopped in front of him, over the ground portal, and giggled. Tocsin prepared to speak, when Deetria, teased, "Catch me if you can!" before she performed a shuttle loop in the air and dove down into the portal, disappearing into it.

"DANGIT!" Tocsin exclaimed, swooping to dive into the portal.

~~02~~

Tocsin found himself descending in a column of white light into a cool, mysterious grotto. The walls were unusually smooth, and appeared to be made of a fine, deep blue stone. This chamber was circular in shape, and he could see that the ground was covered in a carpet of smooth grass that he could swear looked mowed. He noticed a flash of color amongst a patch of really tall grass in this particular chamber, and heard Deetria giggle.

He developed an amused expression, and moved toward the grass quickly. Deetria squealed as he drew close, fleeing the tall grass and heading to the back of this chamber, where there was a passage leading further in. Tocsin followed quickly, taking note of the fact that despite being underground, there was a light source here.

The small passage curved to the left, and as Tocsin pursued the giggling Deetria, he saw the first source of light: a sconce of a sort was mounted to the wall, and resting in it was a torch. Not of fire however, but instead looked like a technical device with a large white orb attached to it, generating light in a flickering manner similar to fire.

The path curved again to the right, and they passed a second torch. Ahead however, a stronger source of light gradually became visible as they approached.

Reaching the end of the passage, Deetria slowed to a stop, and looked out. Tocsin caught up to her, and noticed that she was now distracted again. He floated up beside her, and also looked.

There, ahead, in another round chamber, was some kind of structure. It appeared to be a very large pool constructed of a mystical stone. The pool was round, the water within it glowing with a mysterious energy. Along the pool's rims were small columns reaching into the downward-sloping ceiling of this chamber.

And there, sitting on the edge, or over the pool, were six, small, airborne beings. "Trochairies..." Deetria said.

Tocsin was silent, taking note of their appearance. They were mostly humanoid, at a height range of around eight to twelve inches, with anthropomorphic features of a humming bird. This included a pair of hummingbird wings attached to the shoulder blades of the back, that were about as large as their bodies. A fan-shaped tail was attached to the tailbone and angled down. They also possessed long, needle-like beaks that replaced the nose, their mouth being underneath. Their flesh-colored bodies were hairless, but for the head. Of the six Trochairies, their hair was a different color and style for each. A pair of feathers emerged from and reached down from the collarbone, crossed over each other, and rested on their breasts, producing natural privacy. An additional feather grew down from the belly, just below the naval, protecting the sensitive areas below. Aside from these feathers for cover, they wore nothing.

Their feathers, gloriously beautiful in sight, shimmered with color. Tocsin took note of the fact that each one of them seemed to have a different color combination. He looked at Deetria and whispered, "Are they a threat?"

"Not at all," Deetria replied, now beginning to head toward them. Tocsin followed, staying close.

"Look!" one of the Trochairies exclaimed, in a voice almost as tiny as Deetria's, as the little dragons approached.

"Whoa..." Another said.

All of them were now looking at the two as they approached. "Hello," Deetria said cutely.

"Hello there," A third Trochairy replied, with a more mature-sounding voice.

The six Trochairies approached the two, their wings beating so fast they were blurs and generating a drone. Yet they moved as steadily and calmly in the air as they wanted.

Deetria looked at the group with a friendly expression. Tocsin himself was curious.

"Little dragons?" the smallest of the Trochairies asked cutely.

The mature Trochairy spoke, "You're a pair of Dimension Dragons, correct?"

Tocsin was about to correct her when Deetria replied, "Yep! I'm Deetria, this is Tocsin!"

Tocsin looked at Deetria, but figured it wasn't of much importance to specify his species. He watched as the mature Trochairy said, "An honor to meet you. I am Shimm. These are my friends, Leili, Bella, Miizii, Doola and Rint."

Shimm was clearly the eldest of the group. Her feathers were the longest, and she had the most well developed body. Her hair was deep purple, and reached to the small of her back, long and straight. Her eyes were a dark red.

Leili had a predominance of blue in her feathers. Her hair was a sapphire blue, forming something of a diamond shape pointing out and up from the back of her head. Her eyes too were blue.

Bella's feathers sported a curious spotty design of blacks and whites. Her skin was a little paler than the others. Her hair was short, silver, and curled around and upward slightly next to her cheeks. She had pink eyes.

Miizii was clearly the youngest. Young enough that her form was undeveloped. She had a mix of pinks and oranges to her feathers. Her hair was orange in color, wavy as it hung down to her neck. Her eyes were a glorious green.

Doola's feathers were simply multicolored. She was extensively freckled over most of her body. Her hair was a pure red, and up in a ponytail. Her eyes were a stronger red than Shimm's.

Finally, Rint's feathers were a bit smaller than the rest of her friends. Her hair was solid black, and stood straight up ending in a pair of close spikes, while an unusually long widow's peak reached down her forehead. She had deep blue eyes.

Tocsin looked around amongst all of these pretty females. Yet he did not feel the slightest bit drawn to them. This told him something about his feelings for Deetria.

"You all are so pretty!" Deetria exclaimed.

The girls looked amongst each other, some giggling quietly. Shimm smirked, her mouth just slightly visible under her beak. She replied, "You both are too. Especially that feather of yours, Deetria. I must say, though, I've never seen an albino Dimension Dragon before."

Tocsin replied, "Technically, if I was an albino, I would have pink eyes, right?"

The girls were surprised to hear a male voice from Tocsin. Shimm replied, "NOT always, though you do have a point. Now, you have found our personal pool ground. What can we do for you two?"

"Well, we were just playing in the fields above. We're with a couple of other friends who are searching for the Rooty Grotto. Would you know where it is?" Deetria asked.

The girls looked amongst each other once again, then huddled together. Deetria tilted her head at the sight, and looked at Tocsin. He seemed to shrug with the shoulder section of his upper wings. They looked back at the group. They could hear them whispering in an extremely high-pitched language that Tocsin felt sure humans probably couldn't hear. After a minute, the huddle broke up and Shimm approached the two, smirking still.

"Well, we do. But we can't just _give_ that kind of information away," she said, teasing.

"Aww... Why not?" Deetria responded.

Tocsin narrowed an eye. Shimm replied, "It's just not that easy! No, instead, we'd like to play a game with you. If you win, we'll give you the information you want."

Deetria looked at Tocsin. He said, "Well... I suppose so. We aren't in a hurry."

Deetria looked back, with a cheery expression on her face. Tocsin added, "It depends on the game, however..."

Shimm nodded, the other girls looking excited now. She replied, "Good! This game is simple. I'll explain when we get started."

Tocsin and Deetria looked at each other, readying themselves up for this unusual challenge.

~~03~~

Shimm had divided the group of eight up into two teams. Shimm set herself up as leader of her team over Leili, Bella and Doola. With Tocsin and Deetria were Miizii and Rint. Shimm had set a hand down in the water, and out of it emerged two large rings. Large by the Trochairies' standards anyway. These large rings glowed with energy and took up positions on the opposite sides of the pool. On Shimm's side, Doola moved to be in front of the ring on their side. On Tocsin's side, Rint took up position in front of their ring. She narrowed her eyes, perhaps focusing.

An orb of light rose up in the center of the pool between the two teams. Another orb formed off to the side, with the number thirty forming within it. Two smaller orbs above it with zeroes in them also appeared. And finally, a thin film of harmless light formed right up the center, between the two teams.

Shimm then explained, "This is 'Orb Goal', dragons. This ball of light is the main game piece. Those rings are the goals. Do not cross the film of light or you will be penalized. The game begins when the orb chooses a side to approach. If it heads to you, you need to repel it. Keep it out of your goal, while trying to get it into our goal. We've got a time limit of thirty seconds. If you can get more goals than us, you win."

Miizii chimed in, "Be careful! This game will move a lot faster than you expect!"

Tocsin nodded. He looked at Rint and Miizii and questioned, "You ARE going to actually TRY and help us, right?"

Rint looked annoyed, while Miizii replied, "Of course! Shimm and Rint take this too seriously, but the rest of us just wanna play."

Deetria giggled, which made Miizii giggle too. "Are you ready?" Shimm said, pointing to the two.

Tocsin, eyes narrowed, replied, "Yes. Let's start."

Deetria, Tocsin and Miizii took up positions with Miizzii between them and slightly lower. Shimm, Bella and Leili took up a different position, Shimm near the front, Bella beside her but back a bit, and Leili beside Bella and back a bit further.

The orb then began to swirl in the air, slowly at first, but growing in its spiraling swirl, before suddenly launching itself at Shimm, and the clock started counting down. Tocsin twitched in anticipation. Shimm, with a grunt, smacked the ball with a fist, and the ball ZOOMED between Deetria and Tocsin. Miizii squealed, but Rint grunted, shooting straight into its path and punched it back toward the other side. Deetria panicked, moving to avoid it, and Shimm, right in front of the barrier, punched it down at a sharp angle. Tocsin moved to hit it, but missed, and the ball passed by him, and a diving Rint, passing through the ring. Shimm's score upgraded to one. The clock stopped at twenty-seven. She smirked. Rint muttered, as did Tocsin. "I'm sorry Tocsin! I didn't think it was gonna be THAT fast!" Deetria exclaimed.

Tocsin just looked at her, then noticed as another orb rose into the center of the field. The orb began to swirl again, before launching into Tocsin's side of the field. The clock resumed. Miizii lunged in front of it and smacked it, sending it across to the other side. Bella passed in front and kicked it to return. Tocsin now managed to nail the orb with a twirling swing of his tail, and it flew back extremely fast. Shimm swooped in front and repelled it. Deetria attempted a block, but she and Tocsin collided. The orb passed through them, and Rint repelled it. Deetria whimpered, and Tocsin attempted to hit the passing ball to boost its speed. His timing was off, and Shimm again slammed it with a powerful roundhouse kick, firing it at an angle between a struggling Miizii and the dragons. Rint lunged, and missed as the orb passed the goal, giving Shimm two points. The clock stopped at twenty-four. Bella and Leili grinned, and Shimm smirked more. Rint growled, as did Tocsin. He looked at her and exclaimed, "Move faster!"

"Shut your mouth albino! Shimm's crazy about this and knows my speed limit!" she yelled back.

Tocsin looked forward, eyes narrowed. Deetria said, "Tocsin... I'm sorry..."

Tocsin looked at her and said softly, "Focus... Focus the same way you've done to deal with monsters. We'll win this."

"He's getting into the spirit," Leili said with a very soft voice.

"Good. I haven't had a decent challenge in a long time," Shimm stated, watching the new orb rise from the water.

It began to swirl, then swooped at Shimm's side, clock resuming. With a yell, she punched it toward Tocsin's goal. Tocsin however, rushed into the way and slammed the ball with his head, propelling it back toward Shimm's group. Doola yawned. Leili, with a soft grunt, moved to fire it back with a hit, but it passed over her hand. The ball smashed into Doola's face and she shrieked. The ball moved around erratically, before Bella kicked it back toward Tocsin's side. Deetria, slowly getting the hang of the speed, whipped it with her tail, emitting a squeak. Just on the inside of the field however, Shimm again slammed the ball with a heavy roundhouse kick. It zoomed toward Tocsin's goal, and Rint narrowed her eyes, speeding to block it. To her surprise, Tocsin flew up into its path, and blasted it with flames, causing the ball to ROAR toward Shimm's group. The Trochairies shrieked, avoiding the flaming ball of light, and it passed into Shimm's goal. Tocsin obtained one point. The clock stopped at seventeen.

"NO FIRE!" Shimm yelled.

"This isn't Calvin Ball!" Tocsin yelled, "Once the game's begun, you can't make new rules! The fire counts!"

Deetria giggled, as did Miizii. Shimm muttered. "He's right you know..." Leili spoke softly.

"MEH!" Shimm blurted, and watched as a new ball rose into the air again. It swirled, then launched at Tocsin's field. The clock resumed. Deetria, with a squeal, whipped her tail at it, and knocked it back. Bella and Leili collided midair attempting to block, but Doola, now wide awake, repelled it. Shimm surprised the group by nailing the orb as it flew, changing its direction suddenly. It flew sharply at an angle. Tocsin, Deetria and Miizii were unable to catch it, but Rint oddly did not attempt to block. She knew why, as the orb nailed the ring itself and broke apart. A bizarre error tone was heard from the pool. Shimm narrowed her eyes sharply in annoyance, and the clock, having stopped, was reset to seventeen again. "I HATE it when I do that!" She yelled.

Rint pointed and laughed audibly. Tocsin, Deetria and Miizii were silent though.

A new orb quickly rose from the pool. After swirling, it launched at Tocsin's group. Both Tocsin and Deetria were caught off guard, thinking it always alternated between the two sides. Miizii was on the ball however, moving to kick it with a squeak. It flew right at Bella, who punched it back toward the group. Deetria struck it with a wing, repelling it. Shimm slammed it back once more. Tocsin charged forward and hit the ball, but at the same time passed slightly through the energy film in the middle. The orb slowed to a stop, following another error sound. Once again, the clock was reset to seventeen, but Shimm's group also gained a point, rising to three. Shimm crossed her arms, smirking.

"YOU IDIOT!" Rint yelled. Tocsin growled in annoyance. Deetria and Miizii were quiet.

The score sat at three/one for Shimm/Tocsin. The next orb rose and it once again launched toward Tocsin's side, clock resuming. Tocsin, irritated at his mistake, started spinning in the air and slammed the ball with the great force of his tail. Bella charged into the way, and kicked it, but cried out when the force of the ball's flight hit her leg harder than she expected. The ball did not return as fast, and Deetria smacked it with her own tail. Leili was momentarily distracted by Bella's cry, and the ball passed her. Shimm attempted a repel, but missed, and it sped on. Doola repelled it, but ended up nailing Shimm in the back. The ball recoiled off, and into Shimm's goal. The clock stopped at fourteen, and Tocsin's team gained another point, for two. "I'm surprised that counted..." Tocsin commented.

"This is really a contact sport!" Deetria said, giggling.

Shimm, annoyed, replied, "We run into each other less when it's just us..."

A new ball had risen, and launched itself toward Shimm's group. The clock resumed. Leili, with a soft grunt, kicked the ball. Miizii repelled it with a backhand punch. Shimm slammed the ball harshly, but Tocsin used his whole body to block the path, realizing he's got a lot more mass than the Trochairies. Deetria learned this too upon watching Tocsin. The ball bounced off of him, and Miizii smacked it back toward the opposite side. In a dramatic display of bad timing, Shimm, then Bella, then Leili, one right after the other, missed hitting the ball as it passed between them. It was only thanks to Doola repelling it that they weren't humiliated. Deetria, wondering if she could use elements too, backed away from the ball, her feather beginning to glow. She then released a concentrated beam of light at the ball from her feather. The ball was launched fast, but also expanded to twice it's normal size. Shimm yelped at the sight, and was clobbered. Her body repelled the orb back, but Tocsin and Miizii combined to hit the ball with great force at an angle. Despite it's size, Shimm's entire team was unable to deflect it, and it passed into Shimm's goal. The clock stopped at five seconds. The teams were now tied at 3. "Well that was curious," Leili commented, "I've never seen that happen before."

"My FACE!" Shimm yelled, again being laughed at by Rint.

"It's ok Shimm," Bella said, however.

Shimm and Tocsin both noticed the extremely narrow time limit, and looked at each other.

"What happens if it ties?" Tocsin asked.

"Sudden death," Shimm simply responded.

Deetria meeped.

A new orb appeared, and began to swirl. Tocsin narrowed his eyes. He was determined to win this through. The orb launched itself at Tocsin. Four seconds remaining. Tocsin, with a harsh yell, smashed the ball with his tail. It zoomed at Shimm. Three seconds remaining. With her own yell, she smashed the ball with both fists, returning it. With a squeal, Deetria struck the ball back toward the group. Two seconds remaining. Bella and Leili team struck the ball with kicks, sending it zooming toward the group. One second remaining. The ball sped toward a narrow-eyed Tocsin. He then yelled, performing a forward flip in the air, and smashed the ball with intense force, and at an angle. Shimm missed a deflection. Bella and Leili failed to reach it in time. With a squeal Doola lunged. A millisecond after the ball entered the goal, the clock hit zero, and a tone was heard. The group quickly looked at the score. Shimm: Three. Tocsin: Four.

Miizii started cheering loudly. Rint busted into a guffaw. Shimm facepalmed, fist clenched. Leili gently laid a hand on Shimm's shoulder, and looked at her. Shimm returned the look with a glare, but Leili's soft expression slowly calmed Shimm. Doola just sighed. Bella smiled at the cheering Miizii. They all then noticed as Deetria, also cheering, swooped at Tocsin and glomped him. Though because she was as big as him, it was a true hug, her wings meshing with his. His face whitened more again, eyes wide. "We won!" Deetria squealed.

The girls looked amongst themselves at this sight, and Doola, Miizii and Bella giggled quietly. This sight calmed Shimm down further. Leili, still slightly behind and beside Shimm, head next to hers, watching the two, said quietly, "Do you see what I see?"

"I know love when I see it, Leili," Shimm replied, mellow again.

The game's features: the rings, the film, and the clock and score orbs, all receded into the water, and Shimm approached the dragons. Deetria nuzzled Tocsin, before letting him go and moving to be beside him. He looked at her, and his blush faded. He looked at Shimm.

She looked away for a moment, heaved a sigh, then looked back and said, "You two are remarkable learners. Thirty seconds isn't nearly enough time to play a decent game. Maybe if we meet again sometime, we can play a sixty second game."

"That was fun! I hope we get to play again too!" Deetria squealed.

"Yes. Good game," Tocsin replied, being a fair winner.

Shimm, noting this, felt an approval for Tocsin, and said, "Very well. Miizii, tell them where the Rooty Grotto is, please."

Miizii floated up in front of the two, and said, "Ok, so, from where this flower bed is, you need to head east over three hills. At the top of the third hill, look to the north, and you should see a pretty pond. It has nothing to do with this."

She giggled, and Deetria giggled too. Tocsin seemed to roll his eyes. Miizii resumed, "No, but you should immediately head straight south, and after a few minutes, you should come upon a large patch of sunflowers! Go east-northeast from there, and at the top of a hill, you should be able to see the tree in the distance. Kay?"

Deetria tickled Miizii with her tail, making Miizii giggle, and Deetria replied, "Kay!"

Tocsin nodded at the group, which had now gathered in front of them. "Thanks for the information. Also, thanks for the game too. It's nice to take a break from actually killing stuff and play a harmless game for a change," he said.

"...Killing stuff?" Leili inquired with a concerned tone.

"Evil alien bugs, cave critters and a gigantic crab monster to start..." he replied.

"You killed the Brachy'Ire?!" several of the Trochairies exclaimed.

"Well... kinda. More like he killed himself by accident with his thunderstorm powers," Deetria replied.

"Sounds like you two and those friends of yours are on some kind of long adventure. Be careful out there. The Wenonah Galaxy is a good place, but full of hazards," Shimm commented.

"Oh WE know... We know very well..." Tocsin replied.

"Thanks again! It was a lot of fun!" Deetria squealed.

The group began exchanging goodbyes, as Tocsin and Deetria turned and headed away from the Trochairies' pool.

Once they were out of sight, the Trochairies settled back down, going into the water to cool off.

Tocsin and Deetria moved along through the grotto, and once they were near the entrance, Tocsin looked at Deetria. She looked back. They gazed for a second, before she spontaneously nuzzled him in the face, squealed, "Can't catch me!" and swooped into the column of light. She was pulled up to the portal above.

"Oh you just didn't!" Tocsin shouted, laughing, and pursued.

~~04~~

Thystian watched as his scanning device slowly built a map of the region. He grumbled however. "Something wrong?" Goldy asked, sitting.

"Limited range renders this thing poor for vast expanses like this. I've been meaning to get Savanna's permission to upgrade my suit's auto-mapping system, now that more planets are being charted," Thystian replied.

Goldy kept quiet for a minute, and then watched as Thystian put his device away. He stepped over beside Goldy, and sat down as well. The two watched a breeze roll through the grass in the distance.

"So... You actually haven't told me about the rest of your brothers. You said you have seven, plus friends?" Thystian said, starting a conversation.

Goldy began, "Yeah. We're all around the same age, but for Enigma, who's a bit older and more mature. You've already heard enough about Bluey. My other brothers are Brainy, a red dragon and food enthusiast. Abijar, a bright green dragon, and a big music fan. Corlis is a dark green dragon. He fancies himself a comedian. Lemuel's the quiet one. A white dragon, he usually stays away from all the antics. Ironically, he's the only one of us with a girlfriend. Cornelius is a purple dragon, and loves a good adventure. If he knew what I was doing, he'd probably demand a trip too."

Thystian chuckled, listening. Goldy resumed, "We've got a few friends too. Bluey made a robot named Colin. He's very intelligent and actually nice. We consider him a 'failed' experiment of Bluey's because he hasn't blown up."

Thystian laughed a little, nodding. Goldy continued, "Then there's Norman the squirrel. I have no idea what his problem is. I think he's trying to compensate for being tiny, but he's always challenging Enigma and Tocsin to fights for dominance of the woods."

"A _squirrel_ tries to fight a couple of dragons?" Thystian questioned.

"He's pretty smart actually, and can wield huge weapons and pilot combat mechs. He's just temperamental though, I think. He stole about three million dollars from us once, and used it to commission a clone of himself. It ended up coming back a cute little girl squirrel named Normeena who was a lot nicer than Norman. Needless to say, he didn't like the results."

Thystian chuckled some more. Goldy kept up, "Colin himself built a little helper robot named Billy. And then there's Bios, a robot with rocket launchers. There used to be a fourth robot, but we haven't seen him lately... I think the virus he got infected with finally shut him down."

Thystian nodded. Goldy continued, "And Corlis as a white kitten named Moppy. He's the smartest cat I've ever seen and frequently has the answers to things. Counting Tocsin and I, that's everyone."

Thystian responded, "Wow. You've got a regular village where you live. I bet it rarely gets boring there."

"Rarely is right," Goldy replied, before looking at Thystian and asked, "What about you? We've been doing so much battling and running for our lives, we haven't gotten much of a chance to learn about you."

Thystian looked at Goldy and said, "Well... I'd tell you... But then I'd have to kill you."

Goldy blinked, and Thystian snickered, then said, "Kidding. As you know, I work for NeoSPGXA. You probably think that I, as a general, do an awful lot of traveling of my own instead of commanding troops. Well, our system works a little differently than that from Earth. As you rank higher, more important missions open up for you to accept. NeoSPGXA's goal is generally just peacekeeping, assisting our allies on campaigns to smite enemy factions."

"Insectids?" Goldy inquired.

Thystian replied, "There's a lot more than just them... There's _Der Alptraumkult_, a wicked organization bent on destroying all things pure. There's the Pandora Legion, determined to sow chaos wherever there is tranquility. There's the Shadowlancer Root, a strange underground operations faction that makes it its mission to undermine the factions of good. Then there's criminal organizations such as Maximillion's Corporation, Dark Quasar, the Verdict Syndicate, Equinox Labs, and others who just focus on general disorder and harm to the innocent."

"So many fancy names..." Goldy replied.

Thystian chuckled, nodding, and continuing, "Then there's the factions of light that try to quash the evil factions... Such groups as the Kreigen Unit, TWO-BOHO, Master's Harem and Nontet Squad, who are mostly just big hero teams. Bigger factions include URWC, The Shard, NeoSPGXA, and the Shadow Legion, all very powerful factions that protect big sectors of the Wenonah Galaxy."

"More acronymic names," Goldy commented.

"Yep. And again, they're the result of translations from other languages. So I won't bother telling you their meanings," he replied.

Goldy nodded, then blinked, looking at Thystian and asked, "There's a good faction called 'Shadow Legion'?"

"The darkness helps the light at times. Shadow Legion's probably the prime example of this. Led by an incredibly powerful entity known as Sovereign Ex Umbra, they have many victories against enemy strongholds throughout this Galaxy under their belt," Thystian replied.

"That's cool. The darkness helping the light thing that is," Goldy noted. Thystian nodded.

Thystian then noticed movement out over the field. Goldy looked as well, and in the distance they could see a figure floating on the winds. Thystian and Goldy stood up, looking out at the sight. The figure appeared to be traveling in their direction. "What is that?" Goldy asked, squinting, visoring his eyes.

Thystian waited. As the figure drew closer, they could make out that it looked like a man-sized butterfly. Goldy looked shocked. It seemed to drift lazily on the breezes, and got that much closer.

They then realized, it wasn't a butterfly. It was a woman, with huge butterfly wings possessing beautiful shades of blue and white. She also had a pair of butterfly antennae emerging from her head. Her eyes were closed as she drifted, her long silver hair reaching to her backside and floating in the breeze. Her antennae were covered in a fur-like substance of the same color as her hair. She wore a beautiful, flowing, billowing dress of blues and whites. Goldy's jaw hung open. Thystian stated, "...Oh wow... That, is a PhilaPhila, Goldy."

"PhilaPhila? ...LoveLove?" he replied, still watching as she glided toward them. They could hear her humming a mysterious tune to herself as she did.

"Indeed. They are an all-female race of women that spread love and purity everywhere they go," Thystian explained.

Goldy watched. The PhilaPhila airily drifted in their direction. When she drew closer, ascending the hill, her eyes opened, and she noticed them. She stopped, still hovering, her huge butterfly wings slowly beating. She smiled warmly, looking at Goldy. She resumed her approach.

~~05~~

Goldy and Thystian stepped back a bit as she approached, reached the crest of the hill, and hovered before them. She smiled and spoke in a soothing voice, "Hello there."

"Hi..." Goldy replied, astonished.

She smiled in amusement at the sight of Goldy's shock. She looked at Thystian, who nodded, and said, "Greetings, honorable PhilaPhila."

She nodded back, and looked at Goldy again. She drifted a little closer, and Goldy took a step back. She reached out, and gently laid her fingertips on his snout. He immediately felt a calming sensation, and looked up at her.

She spoke, "You... I sense a noble, kind heart and an innocence that belies your draconic nature. Your body shimmers with gold, and so does your heart."

Goldy smiled at all of these kind words. The PhilaPhila took back her hand, and continued, "I am Shala'Soondeya. I am a Meadow PhilaPhila. And you, I like, little Golden Dragon."

Thystian looked to Goldy, who was surprised to hear this. Shala said, "I have a gift for you. If you can answer my three riddles, I will give it to you. Would you like to try?"

Goldy looked to the side, scratching the back of his head, and replied, "I dunno... I've never been good at word games... I guess... Maybe... Do I get more than one answer?"

She smiled, and nodded, answering, "You may. But only three for the first, two for the second, and one for the last."

"All... alright. I'll try," Goldy responded, looking at her again.

Shala, hovering still, asked the first, "What is yours, but your friend uses it more than you do?"

Goldy began to think. Thystian was silent for a moment, then called out, "Goldy."

Goldy looked at him. Thystian said nothing. Goldy narrowed an eye, then went back to thinking. "Goldy!" Thystian said, louder.

"What?" Goldy responded.

Thystian said nothing again. He glanced at Shala, who giggled a little at Thystian's clever attempt to hint. Goldy narrowed his eye again, then went back to thinking, before suddenly blurting, "My phone number?!"

She slowly shook her head, with an amused expression, and said, "No Goldy. Think deeply, but think carefully, and don't feel stressed."

Goldy mumbled, thinking. Again, Thystian shouted, "Goldy!"

"WHAT?!" Goldy yelled back.

Thystian snickered just a bit. "Can't you see I'm trying to-Ohhh... My name!" Goldy exclaimed.

Shala nodded, smiling.

"Is hinting permitted?" Goldy asked, glancing at Thystian warily.

Shala smiled as she replied, "Yes. A little help is welcome. Discretion is needed though."

She winked at Thystian, who nodded. She looked back at Goldy, and said, "The first, never keep pace. The second, in place!"

Goldy blinked and muttered, "Ohh man... That sounds hard... uhh... Hmm..."

Thystian, running research on this riddle, knowing how tough it was, saw the answer in his suit's system. He snickered slightly. Shala looked at him as he said, "Hint for Goldy?"

She nodded, smiling. Goldy looked at Thystian, who said, "The answer's words are verbs, not nouns."

Goldy thought deeply. He stood for several seconds, thinking, mumbling. Finally, "'Never keep pace'... ... 'in place'... In place? On? Wait... Drag On? DRAGON?! Oh now that's just wonky." He chuckled.

Thystian laughed. Shala smiled warmly at hearing Goldy's correct answer. "You are so cute... Now, for my third riddle. You only get one answer."

Goldy nodded, and Shala said, "It does not seek its own benefit. It never ails. It treats all as equals. It never fails."

Goldy fell silent. Thystian immediately knew the answer, but played it fair and kept silent as well. Goldy thought for a few seconds, his thoughtful gaze slowly drifting. He ended up locking eyes with Shala. She smiled warmly. And Goldy then knew the answer. "Love," he said, with confidence.

Shala nodded slowly. "Well congrats dude!" Thystian exclaimed.

Goldy smiled and raised his fists in the air, exclaiming, "Yeah!"

Shala drifted toward Goldy, and spoke, "You will learn many things in your extended lifetime. I hope you will learn to spread love as everyone should. Now, for you, I grant you these."

She reached out, taking Goldy's hands. He blinked. His eyes then widened as his arms started glowing along with Shala's arms. Emerging from her wrists were a pair of large, pure white rings of Holy element energy. They passed from her arms to Goldy's, and stopped, floating at about Goldy's wrists. They then reduced in size, becoming bracelets of a sort, shimmering a beautiful white, fitting snug at his wrists. Goldy's eyes then glowed white, and he gasped. He became aware of what they were, and how to use them.

Shala released Goldy's hands gently. He slowly looked at the two items. He looked up at Shala, and said, "Purity Rings... Advanced Healing accessories... Thank you Shala!"

Shala smiled very deeply, gently. Thystian exclaimed, "At last! We've got someone with HEALING abilities! We're gonna need all the help we can get, so this is a GREAT gift. Thanks INDEED Shala!"

Shala nodded at Thystian, smiling. She looked back at Goldy however, and warned, "Use them as much as you can. At some point, you may need to give them up. I'm sure you'll know when."

Goldy slowly nodded. He thanked her again, to which she replied with a gentle rub of her hand on Goldy's snout. She looked at Thystian. Thystian quickly took this opportunity to ask, "Shala... You wouldn't happen to know where the Rooty Grotto is, would you? We need to get there."

She looked away, and replied softly, "I'm sorry... I... do not."

Thystian just nodded. "Didn't hurt to ask at least," he commented. Shala looked at Goldy once more, and said, "Take care little one."

She turned, and drifted away on the breeze, massive butterfly wings slowly beating. She resumed humming that mysterious tune. Goldy looked again at his new accessories.

And Thystian, hearing squealing, looked in another direction.

~~06~~

Deetria flew from Tocsin, squealing and giggling, while Tocsin pursued her, a coy look on his face. They swooped through the flower patch, and headed up the hill toward Thystian and Goldy. Upon reaching them, Deetria flew circles around Thystian, Tocsin chasing. Tocsin suddenly stopped and turned around. Deetria skidded in the air, squealing, and squealed even more when Tocsin zipped up close. They locked eyes, and he poked her nose with his tail.

Deetria giggled, flopping to the grassy ground, giggling happily.

"Wow. You two sure must've had something special happen out there. Enjoy yourselves?" Thystian said, an amused tone to his voice.

"It was interesting, to say the least," Tocsin replied.

He then noticed Goldy's rings, and drew in closer to look at them. Deetria, meanwhile, flew up to Thystian and babbled, "I got to play with butterflies, and pollinate flowers, and even play a game of Orb Goal with a flock of Trochairies! Tocsin helped us win too!"

Thystian chuckled, and replied, "Wow. That's cool, cause while you were playing that game, Goldy and I were visited by a PhilaPhila."

"Aww... I wish I had gotten to meet her! Butterfly ladies are so pretty," Deetria replied.

"We won that game, yes, and I managed to get information on where the Rooty Grotto is from the Trochairies' leader too," Tocsin added.

"Excellent! So we both acquired something then. See those rings Goldy has now?" Thystian said.

Goldy said, "They're Purity Rings, and with them I can use Holy element powers! I can heal!"

"Oh thank goodness..." Tocsin exclaimed, "The less time we have to spend in pain, the better."

Goldy nodded. Tocsin then passed the directions on to Thystian, making sure he got them right. Thystian took it all in, and nodded. "That is good to hear. Let's get going," he said.

The group turned and started heading east, down the hill.

"Hey Tocsin..." Goldy said, "What is yours but your friend uses it more?"

"My name. Duh," Tocsin replied. Goldy flinched.

~~07~~

"There! I see them!" Goldy shouted, and the group quickly descended a hill, and approached a massive plantation of huge, glorious sunflowers. Deetria, unable to keep her composure, glomped one of the flowers, which teetered on impact. She squealed and wiggled, before flitting about cheerily in the flowers. Tocsin watched, as did Goldy and Thystian, for a couple of minutes. Goldy commented, "You know, I sort of find it odd that there are plants found on Earth also on alien worlds."

Strangely, Thystian didn't comment. Goldy began to notice an additional sound amidst the birds, insects, and Deetria. It sounded like a young female voice, singing and talking. The sound of a little bark could be heard as well.

Goldy looked around, then said to Thystian, "Do you hear that?"

Thystian nodded, also looking around. He looked east-northeast, and saw a large hill. At the top of it, movement could be seen. "Hmm. Someone's up there. That's where we need to go, too, so let's go!"

Goldy and Tocsin followed Thystian as he began to head up the hill. Deetria squeaked, seeing them leaving, and followed, a sunflower petal stuck on her left foot.

As they drew closer, they could hear a little more barking, and a bird call. They heard a little girl speak, "It smells lovely, don't you think?"

Once they reached the crest of the hill, they saw the source. They stopped at the sight.

There sat a little girl on a blanket laid out on the ground. The girl's head was adorned with massive amounts of very curly silver hair set into braids and ringlets. Some hair was around front of her ears, cloaking them. Her face was soft and gentle, but her large yellow eyes seemed to possess a strange, beastly aggression. She was wearing a yellow, wavy dress with white spots and sunflower designs, and a massive cloud-like collar that reached far enough out and down to hide her shoulders and a small portion of her upper arms. Currently sitting on the sides of her legs, she was wearing a pair of pretty, yellow, slip-on shoes with a single flower-design button on each. Additionally, she sported flower wreath bracelets and a flower-wreath choker, and earrings with large sun-shape gems dangling. Finally, there was a pretty sunflower in her hair.

Set around her were food items on the blanket. And with her, were six animals. A raccoon with a very distinct facial mask. Sitting on the handle of a picnic basket was a pretty Swallow. Laying beside the girl was a young, male deer. Its antlers were just beginning to develop. Also close to the girl was a small, light brown rabbit. Additionally, there seemed to be a curiously colored fox. Its fur was pink with white swirls, and it looked very much like it was wearing a thick scarf with a white and pink design, all of which made it appear to be made of candy. Lastly, there was a small dog, with fluffy white fur, a long tail that curled up with fur draping from it to make it look like a flag. Highlighting the dog's face were a pair of big black eyes and a black nose.

The two groups immediately looked at each other. The dog barked at them with a little, hardly-intimidating bark, though it did appear to be wagging its tail slightly. The Swallow chirped, head tilted.

The girl exclaimed, "Thystian! Wow! What a surprise! I didn't expect to meet you here! And what cute dragons you brought!"

"You know this girl?" Tocsin asked, looking at Thystian.

"Yep. That's Silviprim, one of the Deadly Cuties. She can communicate with nature," Thystian replied.

Thystian walked over to the group. Silviprim's animals didn't seem afraid, despite Thystian's slightly intimidating appearance. Even more interesting, they weren't afraid of Goldy either.

Thystian stood at the blanket's edge, and Silviprim beckoned him to sit. The little dog had scampered over to sniff at Thystian's leg. It barked at Goldy as well, and Deetria floated down to look eye-to-eye with the dog. It sniffed at her, and she giggled.

Thystian moved to sit at the edge of the blanket. Goldy sat beside him, and blinked when the Swallow landed on the edge of his snout and looked him in the eyes. Tocsin stayed beside Goldy's head, while Deetria watched the little dog, which had begun to prance around, excited by the company.

"You certainly have good taste in picking your pets, Thystian," Silviprim said, giggling.

Thystian laughed at the remark, and replied, "Oh they're not pets. They're friends and teammates on this mission I'm on right now."

Silviprim giggled, and watched as the little dog had flopped onto her belly and was "swimming", by dragging itself across the blanket slowly with its front paws. Silviprim giggled more at the sight, as did Deetria.

The mysteriously colored fox sat on its haunches beside Silviprim watching the group with a casual appearance.

"Well Thystian, I'm just going to have to insist you tell me the names of your friends!" Silviprim exclaimed.

"Ah-hah, of course. This is Goldy and Tocsin. They're actually from Earth, brought to this Galaxy by a portal accident. And she is Deetria," he answered.

Goldy and Tocsin nodded at Silviprim. Goldy noticed the fox's penetrating stare, and grew a little nervous. Silviprim spoke, "Goldy, Tocsin and Deetria. Those are such cute names! I'm Silviprim, as you know, and these are Cyion, Hiruna, Melicity, Meeter, Denrod and Curlie Sue!"

Cyion, the Raccoon, seemed to bear greater intelligence than average, as he waved at the group. Hiruna, the Swallow, chirped. Melicity, the strangely colored fox, seemed to wink at Goldy, who flinched. Meeter, the rabbit, sat still, nose wiggling. Denrod, the buck, looked off to the side. Curlie appeared to be a Bichon Frisé breed of dog. Her fur was slightly shorter than normal, and just a bit on the unkempt side. She may have needed a bath, but still looked cute. Currently, she was displaying perhaps just a bit of hyperness, as she had since rolled over onto her back and was wiggling, kicking a leg. It was as if her back itched something fierce. She made amusing growling noises, mouth agape like an alligator.

Deetria giggled at the entire sight. Tocsin noticed that Silviprim had food, and then it suddenly dawned on him. He hadn't eaten in hours.

Goldy, unnerved by the strange fox, leaned toward Thystian and whispered, "What is that thing?"

Thystian replied, "That fox? That's a Bubblegum Candyfox. They're a Wenonaen species."

"She WINKED at me..." Goldy remarked.

This only got a chuckle out of Thystian, and Tocsin spoke up, "No WONDER I'm so weak! How long has it been since we last ate?!"

Goldy and Deetria too now realized exactly how hungry they were. Silviprim smiled brightly, and moved to be on her knees in front of her basket. She said, "Well now is the perfect time then, huh? Here, please eat. I have plenty."

Goldy reached out eagerly for food. Reaching into the basket, Silviprim took out a couple sandwiches and a bottle of water. She asked, "Do you like ham?"

"I'll eat anything. I don't mind!" Goldy exclaimed. Silviprim handed him the sandwiches and water, and he proceeded to devour the food. The Candyfox seemed to grin.

Silviprim took out a doughnut covered in frosting, and held it out for Tocsin. "Wanna nibble?" she offered. To her surprise, he engulfed the entire thing, his head stretching and contorting to fit the doughnut in his mouth.

"Well aren't you just a little pig?!" Silviprim exclaimed with a laugh. She then squeaked when Tocsin spat the doughnut itself back out, cleaned off of frosting.

"...Hee... Sweet tooth?" she asked.

"Mmph... He only eats sugar," Goldy stated, mouth full.

Tocsin nodded, and Silviprim giggled, before digging in the basket. Deetria was staring at Tocsin. He looked at her, and chuckled nervously. Deetria started laughing, and ended up flopping to the ground over it. Tocsin looked around, embarrassed. Silviprim giggled some more, and Thystian, who had also seen it, was just about ready to collapse from laughter.

Tocsin sighed. Silviprim held out a small plastic container filled with sugar. Tocsin said, "Thank you..."

Silviprim smiled and nodded. Tocsin seemed to suck the contents up like a vacuum.

Thystian had since recovered, and now looked out into the distance. His vision had locked on a tree. The exact tree he had described to the group. It was midway up a sharp incline in the ground. Nearly invisible behind a swarm of roots was a cavernous entrance.

"And what do you eat, cute little pink dragon?" Silviprim asked. Tocsin wanted to know too.

"Honey, please. It's the only thing that I gain nutrition from," Deetria said, cutely.

"So many sweet teeth," Silviprim teased, as she brought out a bottle of honey from her basket, and opened it.

Tocsin blinked as he witnessed Deetria plunge her head into the jar and begin to drain it.

Having finished the sandwiches, Goldy chugged the water. Afterwards, he said, "Ahh... I feel better already!" He flopped onto his back. Silviprim smiled at him.

Curlie waddled over and sniffed at Goldy's face. He reached up and patted her head. She almost seemed to smile as he did this, then scampered over to Thystian, who petted her as well, and stroked his hand down her back.

Deetria eventually finished, having drained the jar down halfway. She exhaled audibly upon pulling her head free. Her head was soaked in honey. She wiped it off with her tail, and licked it clean. She energized her feather, crystallizing and then shattering the honey on it. She sucked up the little chips that lay on the blanket. She looked at Tocsin, and drifted over. She nuzzled him suddenly, and sighed contentedly.

Tocsin sighed too, feeling satisfied with the sugar he'd had a chance to eat. "There! All happy!" Silviprim said, sitting back in her spot.

"What about you, Thystian?" Goldy asked.

"I'm good," he said abruptly, getting up. Goldy looked a little confused, but said nothing more.

Goldy sat up when Thystian stood up. Curlie scampered back over to Silviprim and lay at her feet, which was also at the Candyfox's feet. "Whoa, wait. We're leaving already?" Goldy asked.

"There..." Thystian said, pointing.

Everyone, including Silviprim, Cyion and the Candyfox, looked in the direction, seeing the Rit'seiwa bearing tree. "...Ahhh... There it is alright," Goldy said, getting up.

"Such a short visit. I hope you'll come back again some time to play!" Silviprim said, with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Don't worry, Silviprim. I'll always be around. You know quite well the ties your father has with Vasilis and Savanna," Thystian replied.

"Yep. Well, I am sorry to see you go so fast, but I'm glad I was able to help!" she exclaimed.

"Oh yeah, I feel ready to run again," Goldy said, stomach satisfied.

"Me too!" Deetria squealed.

Tocsin nodded as well, and Silviprim smiled. The group exchanged goodbyes, and Thystian's group headed toward the tree, descending the hill.

"Such nice people, and such pretty dragons..." Silviprim said to her friends, watching them go.

The Candyfox sighed, and said in a beautiful, adult woman's voice, "One of these days, I'm gonna need to actually say something to one of these lovely men that keep showing up."

"Hee hee... You'll find someone, Melicity, I'm sure!" Silviprim replied.

The Candyfox looked back out at Goldy has he marched down the hill, then tripped and started rolling uncontrollably.

~~08~~

After a short climb up the steep incline, the group reached the access point to the Rooty Grotto. "This is it. Inside this short passage, we should find some of the Essence Rit'Seiwa!" Thystian announced.

"Yay! Then what?" Deetria asked.

"Then we head on, to the next planet. And you'll see how when we get inside," he replied.

Deetria cheered, and flew in. Tocsin quickly followed. The thick roots of the tree made access for Thystian and Goldy just a little harder however. Pulling a root to the side, which required a strength boost with his armor, Thystian allowed Goldy inside. Goldy attempted to keep the root in place to let Thystian pass, and they headed down the declining tunnel.

Strangely, while this chamber was underground, there appeared to be a glow of a deep green shade inside that made it easier to see. Swaths upon swaths of roots created a massive tangled mass in this tunnel. Tocsin and Deetria, following the sounds of slow dripping further in the back, easily navigated this mess with swoops and swerves. Deetria giggled as she flew, commenting, "These roots feel pure and full of life! Is that the Essence Rit'Seiwa's doing?"

"YES!" Thystian yelled, now completely tangled in the roots, struggling to climb through them and further into the rather narrow passage. Goldy, too, was badly tangled. Grunting, he clawed his way through the roots.

"Friggen... roots... ARGH!" Thystian yelled, forcing them out of his way as he crawled through the mess.

Leaving them behind to struggle, Tocsin and Deetria exited the root-infested section, and entered a small chamber. It was something of a round shaped cave, all along the walls were big, healthy looking roots. At the opposite end of the chamber, was a natural pool. It was filled with a green glowing fluid. It was the source of the light in this small chamber. Clustered along the wall above it, and draping from the ceiling over it, were roots. Dripping from their tips or from slits in draping roots, was a green fluid. This dripping was apparently the source of the pool.

Deetria drifted close to the pool, and peered at her reflection in the glowing water. She cooed, looked at Tocsin, and said, "It's pretty. And I sense strong mystical properties from it!"

"Very interesting... I can see how it would be on Thystian's list," he replied.

With a crash, Goldy landed in front of the pool on his face. Tocsin and Deetria looked down at him, then back at Thystian, to see he had thrown Goldy over to the pool. With some last struggling, Thystian plucked himself free from the roots, and slowly climbed to his feet. "You guys, like, DITCHED us back there!" he exclaimed.

"What did you expect us to do? Fly around and try to push you from behind with our heads?" Tocsin retorted.

Thystian walked over. Goldy got up and brushed the dirt off of his belly, and looked at the pool. He looked at his reflection, then at Thystian and asked, "Is it drinkable?"

"No way," Thystian said, "But it IS a very valuable and rare chemical. Essence Rit'Seiwa is a special chemical that, in large quantities, possesses teleporting capabilities."

"Oh wow. A teleporting pool!" Deetria squealed, looking at her reflection again.

She blinked when Thystian, using an empty bottle he took from his inventory, scooped up a large sample of the pool's chemical. He closed the lid tight, and stored the bottle.

"That's two elements down!" Thystian exclaimed. Everyone cheered.

"Now, how do we get to the next planet?" Goldy asked.

"Simple," Thystian said, as he surprised everyone by stepping into the pool, which was about knee deep. "We use this pool to move to the next location," Thystian finished.

He directed Goldy to step into the fluid, and he did so. He then directed Tocsin to land on Goldy's head. Deetria then lay on Tocsin, surprising him. She surprised him more when she emitted a purring sound, and sighed. "So warm..." she commented.

Goldy grinned. Thystian chuckled quietly, before laying a hand on Goldy's shoulder. Goldy looked at Thystian, then blinked when the entire pool began to glow brightly, the fluid beginning to release green bubbles into the air. The pool quickly began to drain, while everyone's forms began to turn solid green. Then they faded away.

The pool's fluids were drained entirely to complete the teleport process. The roots continued to drip, and the pool now restarted its decades-long process of filling up.

END

Dragon Tails © Tim Dawson

Wenonah Galaxy © Adrian Smith

~~00~~

In Loving Memory of Curlie Sue: 1997 - 2009


	6. 06: Gloom Season

Roseus Elementeus

Chapter Six – Gloom Season

~~00~~

From beauty to beast. The sky, a menacing blackness, shrouded the land in thick gloom. Wind blew with the scent of thick moisture and the odor of rain. A very loud crack of thunder echoed from the sky above. The site of their appearance was a clearing at the bank of a large pond. The ground was not much higher than the water level itself, and surrounding this muddy clearing grew very tall grass, mixed with reeds. The color of everything was a dull blueish-green shade, almost like that of death.

Another rumble of thunder was heard in the distance as a green orb formed in the center of this clearing, and hovered a few inches off the ground. The orb generated a steady bubbling drone, before popping. Out of it fell, onto their feet, Thystian and Goldy. Tocsin lay on Goldy's head, and Deetria on Tocsin. With a "splorch", Thystian and Goldy landed in the mud, and sank an inch into the ground.

Deetria looked around, and began to whimper. Tocsin's eyes widened. A stiff breeze blew past, rustling the tall grasses around them audibly. The sound of the pond water splashing lightly on the bank was heard among the rest of the ambience.

"Good dragon..." Goldy said, a low tone, "We went from paradise to nightmare... What is THIS planet, Thystian?"

Deetria stayed close to Tocsin as the two rose into the air, looking around. Thunder rumbled in at least two different locations in the sky. Thystian waited for the rumbling to calm, before announcing, "Well guys... We're now on planet Domargomka'Irysme, the Gloom Planet..."

"Gloom is an understatement. This place is downright frightening," Tocsin noted.

Goldy turned back, looking at the vast pond that lay behind the group. Many reeds grew in clusters at various points in the pond. Lily pads, sans flowers, floated on the surface. The sounds of strange insect calls and perhaps the high-pitched croaking of frogs could be heard too. He stepped over to the pond's edge, and looked at his reflection.

"This entire planet has only two seasons," Thystian explained, "A season of light, and a season of gloom. It's far more well known for its season of gloom however, which lasts three quarters of every month for this planet. The sky will be like this perpetually, and you can expect rain from it too. As for the season of light, that season is what sustains the plants, which have adapted to the rare sunlight."

"Explains the dark colorings..." Deetria said sadly, inspecting a strange plant stalk near the edge of the clearing.

"And specifically, it looks like we're in the Shadow Moors region," Thystian added.

"YEOW!!" Goldy shrieked.

Everyone turned and looked, as Goldy yanked his hand up from the water. Clamped to one of his fingers was a strange turtle creature. Goldy began to flail his hand as he tried to shake the animal off. Thystian stepped over and grabbed the turtle's body, and Goldy pried at the creature's jaw with his free hand. Tocsin and Deetria observed, as Goldy managed to get the creature off. His finger was bleeding from a deep cut wound. Thystian tossed the turtle back into the water, and inspected Goldy's hand.

"Ow ow ow ow..." Goldy uttered, clutching his bitten hand with his other hand.

He tried to power up his Purity Rings to heal the injury. While he was able to power them up, he couldn't get them to act on his hand. "Aahhh! Drat!" he exclaimed, "These things apparently don't work on ME! I can't heal myself..."

"No selfish wishes... That's fitting I suppose," Thystian commented.

He stepped over to the grasses along the edge of the clearing, and pulled a few from the ground. Upon returning to Goldy, he wrapped them around the wound to contain it. He looked at Goldy, who nodded slowly. "Thanks..." he said.

"This planet is a lot more hazardous than Coll, so stay close and keep your eyes open," Thystian warned.

Everyone nodded. Tocsin looked at Deetria, whose joyful feelings brought about by Coll had faded away. He drew closer, and spoke, "Deetria, let me ask you something..."

She looked at him, with a melancholy expression, and Tocsin asked, "Is your mood directly effected by the planet you're on?"

Deetria drew a little closer as she replied, "Only when the planet has an extreme design or something... But wouldn't this kind of weather depress you too?"

Tocsin answered, "I'm not sure. I haven't really had the chance to experience this before."

Deetria nuzzled Tocsin, then whispered, "Stay close to me Tocsin... I don't like this place..."

Tocsin, with a serious expression, nodded.

Thystian and Goldy walked past the two, having spotted an access point to a trail at the opposite end of the clearing. Tocsin and Deetria followed. Thystian stopped upon reaching the trail's starting point, and looked at the ground. "Looks like heavy vehicles used to pass through here. This planet used to have a stronghold for the Shadowlancer Root, but they were driven off by the foul weather. That's what the records say anyway..." Thystian noted.

"What is the element of this planet you're after?" Goldy inquired.

"It is known as Darklight Crystal, a mystical mineral with both the properties of darkness and light, as the name suggests. I know there is some in this particular region, but I'm not sure where. For now, I think we should follow this trail," Thystian stated.

The others nodded slowly, and all four began to head down the trail. Down being a correct word in this sense, as after slowly trudging forward, the trail began to veer to the right, and down a slope. The grass rustled in the steady storm-boding wind, and thunder rumbled overhead.

The group had to keep an eye on their step, because there were numerous pits in the muddy ground. As it was, Goldy managed to step in one, his leg sinking up to the ankle in the mud. With difficulty, he managed to pull it free, and hopped forward slightly, trying to avoid actually falling in.

Tocsin noticed another pond amongst the tall grass that surrounded the trail. Movement of an object within could be seen, which Tocsin disregarded, thinking it was just plants. Though soon a large shadow was noticed as it passed over the group. Goldy and Tocsin quickly looked up, but saw nothing but the nightmarish black clouds. Thunder rumbled.

"What the heck was that?" Tocsin exclaimed.

Thystian spoke, "That shadow? Yeah, there's a curious feature about this planet. Some studies conducted came to the conclusion that, drifting in the air below the cloud line, are masses of some kind of light-absorbing energy. Apparently a type of dark energy or dark matter. Very few scientists are willing to spend much time on this planet and try to identify them completely."

"I don't blame them..." Deetria said quietly.

The group trudged on, the sloping ground having flattened out again and continuing a slight curve to the right. After a few minutes, in the distance, a faintly visible treeline could be seen. Thunder boomed across the sky in the distance.

Thystian stepped suddenly into a deep mud hole, and carefully pulled his foot free. "Good thing my boots are attached to my suit. This stuff's notorious for eating shoes."

Goldy chuckled lightly.

The group continued on, drawing near to the forest. Quietly, Thystian said, "Stygian Woods... You thought it was gloomy out here? Wait until we get inside there."

Deetria whimpered.

They continued onward, passing the first few trees, which had a faint green tinge to them. Thunder echoed, and the wind hissed through the plants all around them. And there, amongst the grass and other very tall plants, peering out from the gloom at the group as they entered the woods, were two pairs of bizarre, green, glowing eyes. A very faint, beastly chortle echoed from one of them, as they turned and disappeared.

~~01~~

Deeper into the inky woods the group moved. Deetria, scared to death, looked about as they traveled. The trees sported jagged, angled branches, and she began to imagine frightening images in the trees. The hooting of an owl creature could be heard. Thunder rumbled overhead.

A streak of glowing green zipped between two trees. No one noticed. Wind rushed through the trees, the branches waving about slightly. Goldy suddenly flinched, a drop of rain landing on his snout. "Seems like I'm always the first thing to be hit when it starts raining," Goldy commented.

"We'll be soaked before we're off this planet," Thystian stated.

Tocsin shuddered at the thought. He heard Deetria squeal in fear, and looked back. She was staring at a tree with a large black hole in it, that, at least to her, resembled a mouth. Tocsin drifted over and laid a wing on her head. She looked at him, and he looked back with a firm expression. Deetria nuzzled him. They continued on.

"Well, at last the mud's dried up here," Goldy remarked.

By now, they had left the pond field, and the trail had shifted from fresh mud to dry, stony ground. The group had been walking for some time, before Goldy noticed a pair of rocks at the side of the trail ahead, their backs to the treeline. One, on the right, was larger than the other. He walked over and sat on the lower rock and began scraping mud off his feet. Thystian stopped at this moment too, and sat on the bigger rock, before doing the same thing. Tocsin comforted Deetria of her fear for the moment. He even managed to get a giggle out of her when a drop of rain landed on his face.

"Back in our forest, there are a pair of rocks just like these, though the bigger rock's on the left. Abijar and Cornelius spend all kinds of time just sitting on those rocks talking about stuff," Goldy commented.

"So they have thinking rocks then. Heh. I doubt if anyone could spend time thinking about things in THIS forest though..." Thystian commented.

Thunder rumbled. "The orientation's all wrong anyway," Goldy replied, hopping off the rock, having finished cleaning his feet. No one noticed the pair of green eyes peering out of the darkness of the brush directly behind him. Thystian stood up too, and watched as a large shadow passed over the group. Thunder added to the unnerving results. Deetria shivered a little.

The sound of a raindrop could be heard hitting the ground during a moment of dead silence. No wind, no thunder. Thystian slowly resumed forward progress through the trail that cut through the forest. Goldy followed behind him, checking on his bitten finger. Tocsin kept beside Thystian, and Deetria close behind Tocsin. A huge, dark object bearing the glowing eyes rushed by behind the group. Stopping, Goldy quickly looked back, but failed to notice anything. He shook his head slightly as he resumed following.

The group had now traveled almost completely through the winding path of the Stygian Woods, the evil-looking trees haunting them the whole time. Deetria was scared again, but felt a little better when Thystian announced he could see the edge of the forest ahead. Thunder boomed in the sky above. That was when everyone heard a loud branch snap. They froze, and slowly began looking around. "...Something's on radar..." Thystian commented quietly.

Looking around, Deetria began to shiver now. Lightning flashed. Deetria screamed. Goldy yelped too, as, during the brief flash of brighter light, they had both seen a hideous, toothy face bearing green glowing eyes staring out of the brush at them. The eyes disappeared again, and Deetria shivered in horror. Thystian slowly drew his mallet, and said, "Keep moving..."

They began to head forward at a slightly greater clip. Deetria, terrified, looked around frantically, whimpering. More thunder, more wind, more raindrops to the face. The group heard a strange, guttural chortle echo from the brush. Thystian, recognizing the noise, exclaimed, "Everyone be on full alert. We are under attack by Gruesmos Hounds. They are deadly dog beasts native to this planet."

Deetria whimpered audibly, and the group rushed for the end of the forest. But with a crash, out of the woods and into the path lunged a monstrous dog-like beast, easily seven feet in height. Its head was rather round with a flat face, a huge grinning maw filled with sharp teeth, saliva oozing from its bottom lip. Its eyes glowed a piercing green, ovular slit pupils shrouded by the glow. Its body rippled with muscles, and was blanketed by a wooly coat of deep green fur. It also sported a thick mane of black fur. It didn't appear to have visible ears. The paws of its legs had enormous claws, more like those of a cat than a dog. It had a long, black tail, that ended with what was very much a long, deadly blade. It echoed a hideous chortling call.

Deetria screamed. A thud was heard behind the group, and Goldy and Deetria looked back to see a second Gruesmos Hound had leapt out and blocked their path back. It echoed the same call. It was slightly smaller, its fur just a little thinner than the one in front, suggesting it may be female. Ironically, its tail blade was larger by comparison. Deetria screamed again.

Lightning flashed overhead, and thunder boomed. Deetria was scared out her mind. "...I take it these are the dominant predator of this region..." Tocsin commented.

To his complete and utter shock, and perhaps horror, Thystian replied, "Nope..."

The male Gruesmos Hound lunged forward with a snarl, and swiped a claw at Tocsin. Tocsin evaded by rising in the air fast. Thystian slammed his mallet into the beast's side. It rolled and landed on its feet before immediately lunging at Thystian. Thystian thrust his mallet into its face to shove it back. It bit down on his mallet and began to pull. Thystian, making use of the wide end of his weapon, pulled back, though even the strength of his armor was not enough to prevent being dragged by the muscle-bound, four-legged beast.

The female Gruesmos hound hunched, snarling. Deetria clung to Goldy's head, crying in fear. Goldy said quietly, "Deetria, I need help..."

Deetria whimpered. Goldy yelped as his opponent lunged at him, and snapped at his face with its huge maw. Goldy staggered back, and tripped on a rock, resulting in a spontaneous sit-down. The beast launched itself onto Goldy, pinned him down with a paw on his chest, and snarled. It yowled when a powerful flash of light struck its eyes, and galloped away before turning, snarling. Deetria, eyes narrowed, yet filled with tears, floated over Goldy, her chromatic feather standing upright. She looked down at him, and he got up quickly. "I wanna help..." Deetria whimpered.

"Be brave, Deetria," Goldy said in an effort to encourage her. Thunder rumbled.

Tocsin blazed flames on the male Gruesmos hound, causing it to yowl. It released Thystian's mallet, and galloped back before turning and shaking itself, throwing the flames off. The wet plants all around it proved resistant to the flames and did not ignite. The beast then charged and launched itself at Thystian, mouth first, slamming into him. Thystian grunted audibly, blocking the chomp with the handle of his mallet. The beast continued to run, carrying Thystian with its head, past Goldy and Deetria, and slammed Thystian against a huge rock. Tocsin shot by in pursuit.

The female Gruesmos hound leapt over her partner, coming down with a roar at Goldy, who inhaled, then blasted flames at the creature. It yowled as it passed through the flames, and crashed down on Goldy, smashing him into the ground. It clamped on his head and thrashed him about. Deetria, with a shriek, fired a concentrated blast of light onto the beast's head, causing a severe burning effect. The beast reacted by flinging Goldy against a tree, making the entire plant to shake and shed some leaves. Goldy flopped to the ground with a grunt. He heard Deetria scream. He witnessed Deetria being slashed viciously across her back by the beast as she attempted to flee it. She flew forward and rolled along the ground. She came to a stop, and lay there crying. Goldy scrambled to his feet and charged for Deetria, as did the female Gruesmos hound.

Thystian groaned in pain as the male Gruesmos Hound pressed him hard against the rock, before pulling back, holding on to Thystian with its teeth slightly penetrating his armor, and jutted forward, slamming Thystian against the rock. It repeated this a second time. Tocsin swooped up from behind and fired a ball of plasma at the beast. The next second he was sliced across the front by the beast's long tail blade. He screamed, plasma leaking out. The ball then detonated, thrusting the beast into the ground and igniting it. It roared, throwing Thystian at Tocsin and the two crashed to the ground some ways back into the forest trail. The beast shook itself to clear the flames, then romped about, oddly, and stopped, watching its mate.

Goldy leapt, then slid, shoving Deetria and making her roll a little more, before the female beast landed claws first on Goldy's back. He yelled, before rolling forcefully, causing the beast to slip and land belly down on Goldy. He surprised it by lifting the monster beast up, and flinging it against a tree, destroying the large plant. The female Gruesmos Hound yowled as the plant crashed down on it, pinned it and rendered it unconscious. Goldy scrambled to his feet and rushed over to Deetria. He picked her up, and she hung limp, crying still. His eyes narrowed, and his Purity Rings began to glow strong, before releasing tube-shaped beams of Holy energy into Deetria. Immediately her wound cleared, and her strength returned. She slowly lifted her head to look at Goldy, and he nodded at her.

Thystian came flying out of nowhere with a yell, hammer raised, and smashed the huge weapon down on the back of the male Gruesmos Hound. The beast was crushed into the ground, but warily climbed back out, snarling at Thystian. Tocsin flew in, mad, leaking plasma, and blazed multi-color flames right into the beast's face. It roared, rising onto its hind legs in a sudden effort to get away. It towered over the group like this. But then it crashed with a loud thud onto its back. Deetria, seeing Tocsin hurt, glared at the beast, and her feather glowed brightly. It fired a huge blast of light energy with Status Waves around it. The beast's fur caught fire, and it roared. It scrambled to its feet and shook itself, but the fires could not be put out. It roared more, now in pain, running in circles. Thystian threw his mallet at it, and managed to nail it in the head, launching the creature far into the forest. A huge crash was heard, and silence took over. The battle concluded with the rumble of thunder. More rain was beginning to fall now.

Tocsin groaned in pain, the wound still leaking. Goldy quickly approached, and released his Healing Beams into Tocsin. Tocsin noticed right away that the wound immediately closed up. Deetria swooped over and clung to him, shivering again. Goldy then passed the beams over Thystian, restoring him of what damage he'd taken as well. Strangely, the healing beams worked on his armor as well.

Goldy's rings fading to normal, he sat back down again, and checked his bitten finger. His back, being covered in a thick hide, hadn't taken much damage from the dive attack. "What... a... fight..." Goldy panted.

"Yeah, those things are tough. We made it though..." Thystian replied, putting his hammer away.

After a couple of minutes, Goldy got back up, and the group, very much eager to get out of this forest, headed for the exit, passing out of Stygian Woods, and into a wide-open region.

~~02~~

Thystian stopped the group upon exiting, and they looked out over the land. Immediately before them, the land sloped downward sharply for just a few feet before flattening out. Devoid of trees and carpeted by short grass and patched with large reeds normally seen in rivers, the plains region before them was also riddled with gullies. Some were small and passable by just jumping, but there were three very distinct gullies visible. One crossed by straight ahead of the group. Another beyond it curved slightly toward the first. The last was massive and had numerous branches. The land seemed to slope steadily down from right to left. They looked to the right, and could see as the land steadily inclined, increasing in steepness until it was ascending the side of a mountain. Few trees were on this mountain from what they could see. However, one definite feature was that it reached up to the clouds and disappeared beyond them. The storm clouds swirled around it menacingly, and lighting crashed. Thunder then boomed loudly.

"Torrent Deep..." Thystian said, a dark tone to his voice. "And that," he said, pointing to the mountain, "...is Storm Pinnacle. To make matters worse, it's raining, and this place is very well known for its flash floods. The gullies fill with water first, and then the rest of the area, turning this into a giant river... We need to move quickly."

They nodded. They jumped in surprise when a bolt of lightning crashed down behind a section of trees off in the distance, and a ball of flame, an explosion, rolled up from the impact site. Immediately, a terribly loud explosion of thunder nearly knocked everyone over.

Then came the rain. The first thousand or so drops were the size of golf balls, and the rain began to pour like something had poked a hole in the clouds. Tocsin quickly started to shiver, and, seeing this, Deetria hastily moved to cover him with herself. "Move!" Thystian exclaimed.

The group ran along the trail as fast as they could, the rain roaring around them, with huge gusts of wind occasionally turning the rain sideways. Goldy quickly slipped on a fast-forming puddle, and splashed down. He crawled fast for a minute to catch up, and resumed running.

The trail lead them to a large stone bridge. This bridge arched gently over the first gully. Already, a stream was forming in the gully below. "Is that safe?!" Tocsin yelled over the rain.

"Scans tell me it's sturdy! Go go go!" Thystian yelled, charging toward and onto the large bridge, followed by Goldy.

Thunder boomed overhead, and the rain seemed to intensify slightly for a few seconds afterwards. The sounds of flowing water could be heard, and Goldy peeked over the rim of the bridge, seeing as water was flowing down the sloped land like a newly born river.

Reaching the other end of the bridge, Thystian and Goldy ran with splashing footfalls over the now very soaked land. "It rains so heavily here that the ground can't soak up any more water! It's like a filled sponge, the water just sloughing off and down into a large river! If we don't get through here in time, we will definitely be swept away!" Thystian exclaimed.

"Use your hoverboard!" Goldy suggested, running.

"What, and leave you all behind?!" Thystian yelled.

They ran for the next bridge. The gullies were easily half filled with water already, and after another clap of thunder, the rain intensified to the point it was almost blinding. Tocsin and Deetria lead, Deetria very much afraid. Tocsin's eyes were just narrowed, trying to keep his heat up in the chilling rain. Lighting flashed brightly.

They reached the second bridge, but Tocsin and Deetria immediately noticed that there was a huge gap in the center of it. It looked as though it had been smashed away by a large object. They crossed the gap without concern. Thystian however, yelled out at the sight of the gap. "CRAP!!"

He launched himself over the gap, barely making it to the other end. A large block at the edge of the other end of the gap broke loose and plunged into the now two-thirds-filled gully below. Goldy came up last, and leapt with a yell. Lightning flashed as Goldy seemed to leap across in slow motion. Thunder soon followed, and Goldy landed on the very edge of the gap. He flailed his arms frantically, and slipped back off the wet stone toward the raging water below. Thystian, waiting for him, shot an arm down and snagged Goldy's arm.

Goldy yelled in fear, and hung by Thystian's arm. He looked down as the raging water continued to rise. Thystian felt the bridge quake slightly. Tocsin and Deetria noticed this too, and saw that the water was beating against a weakened section of the bridge's foundation. "Hurry!!" Deetria squealed.

The water was quickly beginning to splash over the edges of the gully, as Goldy climbed up Thystian's arm and managed to throw a foot onto the bridge. With Thystian's aid, Goldy got back up, then fell over as the bridge quaked hard. Thystian jumped off the bridge, and Goldy leapt forward using all fours to propel himself as the bridge collapsed into the raging water.

By now the land was becoming a shallow stream, the grass bent over from the force of the flow. "One more gully!" Thystian yelled, as he and Goldy charged onward.

The ground was quickly getting slippery, and Thystian skidded at a point. Goldy too was having a terrible time keeping his traction. He realized that it was kind of fun actually to run forward and then stop, sliding sideways on the wet grass. He did this twice, but on the second time, he slipped and landed front down in the water with a splash. He yelled out as the water quickly began to drag him. He began to scramble to his feet. Thystian suddenly reached out, grabbed him, and threw him with incredible force to the entrance to the third bridge. Goldy landed with a wet thud, and got to his feet. Tocsin and Deetria stayed with the two, and Tocsin yelled, "Why the HECK aren't you flying?!"

Goldy yelled back, "You think I'm gonna try to fly with this crazy wind?! I'm not aerodynamic like you two are!"

Thystian charged up and grabbed Goldy, lifting him, and Goldy yelped. "TRY ANYWAY!" Thystian yelled, before flinging Goldy with all his might.

Goldy yelled, covering his eyes, and glided over the bridge. Tocsin and Deetria followed, and the three spotted ahead a rising bank up to unflooded ground at the end of this enormous riverbed area. The trail sloped sharply up the edge of the bank and continued on, so Goldy, Tocsin and Deetria rushed for it. Goldy landed with a wet thud in the higher ground, then scrambled up and looked back, along with Tocsin and Deetria.

Thystian ran with awkward steps in the now calf-deep water, and slipped. He landed on his side, before scrambling up and charging up onto the half-flooded bridge. The group's eyes widened in horror as Thystian, reaching midway over the bridge, crashed through the heavily cracked floor and into the deep water below. "Thystian!!" Deetria squealed in horror.

She began to charge forward, only for her to jolt in place. She looked back at Tocsin, who had once again prevented her flight with his tail wrapped around her. This time though she yanked with her whole self multiple times, squealing, "NO! Thystian!"

"You do realize that suit of his lets him breathe under water, don't you?" Goldy said over the roaring rain.

"But... but he'll be swept away!" Deetria squealed, no longer yanking.

Tocsin moved to be beside her, and said, "I see purple in the water, and there's a rock in its way..."

Deetria fell silent, and sure enough, a purple gauntlet launched out of the water and snagged the rock, before Thystian hefted himself out onto it. He looked around, the rock quickly losing unsubmerged surface. He jumped forward, and activated his Hoverboard, swooping over the water toward the group. Deetria calmed, and Goldy crossed his arms, smiling and nodding.

Upon reaching the bank, Thystian hopped off and landed in front of the group, panting. "...Why didn't you do that in the first place?" Goldy inquired.

"I have to be on an unsubmerged surface to activate that thing..." Thystian replied.

The group watched as the gully-filled region filled with water, now a gigantic river. Goldy exhaled, the rain still pouring, and thunder boomed. "What a planet..." he commented.

"Believe it or not, some people like it here," Thystian replied, now turning to continue following the trail.

Goldy turned as well and followed beside Thystian. Deetria began to follow too, before jolting, looking back and seeing that Tocsin still had her tail. Her face turned a bit pinker, and she brought her face close, before nuzzling him.

They moved to follow, Deetria taking a position over Tocsin to shield him from the rain.

~~03~~

The rain poured, and wind swept angrily over the group. Thunder roared overhead, and Goldy sighed. He was just glad he didn't have clothes to worry about being soaked. He shook himself occasionally to throw the water off, and Tocsin would yell at him every time, as he soaked the whole group upon doing it.

The trail was now mostly tramped-down grass bearing a blueish-green shade. This region was nearly completely flat with large, curious, round bushes. "I don't know about you guys, but I hate it here..." Tocsin commented.

"Well yeah, after coming from Coll, I could see that," Goldy replied.

"How long does the rain last?" Deetria said, sadly.

"It's been known to rain heavily like this for hours..." Thystian replied.

"After all the things you were telling me about ground portals and Trochairies and such, I thought you knew everything about this galaxy," Tocsin said, to Deetria.

"Mmm, no... Only about the planets I've been to... And I haven't been here," she replied, before sighing.

"This rain makes me think... How often does it actually rain in our forest?" Goldy asked, back to Tocsin.

Tocsin blinked, then replied, "Now that you make me think about it, I don't think I've encountered rain at all at our forest since I was created."

"It's weird... No seasons, no rain... Heck, I don't even think I've felt any wind. Just day and night. It's like our forest is caught in some kind of time loop where the same day just plays over and over again, only we end up doing different things," Goldy said, as they walked somewhat passively along the grassy trail.

"At least it's not like that one Star Trek episode where they all die over and over again... I hated that episode," Tocsin commented.

Goldy nodded. Thystian added, "That IS weird that you don't have weather. You might want to talk to your older brother Enigma about it."

"I will remember to do that. I'm gonna have to start keeping a list... There's so many things I'm gonna want to do when I get back..." Goldy replied.

"Like what?" Deetria inquired, feeling calm now that they're in a safer region.

Goldy stated, "Well for one, I'm gonna buy a bunch of canvasses, and paint landscapes of every planet we go to, so that I can show my brothers what I saw."

"Ooo... That would be neat!" Deetria exclaimed.

The group noticed ahead, through the rain, a short cliff face. Only about fifteen feet tall, it reached as far off to the left and right as they could see. Strangely, there appeared to be humongous mushrooms growing out of sections of it. With large caps and very long stems, they reached out and up at curving angles, while others clustered at the base of the rise. "Oh now THAT'S something that I'm not surprised to see..." Tocsin commented, "With all this moisture, I'm surprised we haven't seen more fungus around. Those things are huge though!"

"You want huge mushrooms? If I ever get a chance in the future to show you more of the galaxy, I'll take you to planet Zuuv, the giant fungus forest planet," Thystian replied. This got surprised looks from Goldy and Tocsin.

As they drew near to the cliff, they could see that the trail lead right up to it. Apparently it continued onward at the raised ground above. Deetria shrieked in fear, and the group looked at what she saw. There, amongst some of the mushrooms, appeared to be humanoid bones mixed in. Thystian scanned them, while the group stood in fear. "...They're very old..." Thystian commented, "I get the distinct feeling they're the remnants of a drifter. People have been known to come to this planet for 'solace' because they're depressed and don't want to deal with others. None of them ever return alive."

"What a mood killer... I was just getting used to the gloom," Goldy commented.

The group approached the cliff, and Thystian leapt up it. Goldy climbed onto one of the mushrooms with an enormous cap, and climbed up to the top of the cliff using roots and rocks to get a good hold. Tocsin and Deetria simply flew.

Once they reached the top, they saw an amazing sight before them. Ahead, as far as the eye could see, as limited as their vision was due to the rain, was a vast field of large and small mushrooms. The trail was partially consumed by the fungus horde. The plants ranged in size and shape from tiny mushrooms the size of Tocsin's head, to humongous mushrooms as tall as Thystian. Their colors varied too. And amongst them, arching out and into the ground were strange white roots.

"Whoa... 'Shroomy," Goldy commented.

"The Mushroom Garden," Thystian spoke, "I haven't been to this particular place. Seen it in aerial views, but never actually been here."

The group moved on through the trail, taking care to avoid contact with as many mushrooms as they could.

As they moved, they heard rattling sounds, and looked around. They kept moving though, and soon saw that the source was a particular mushroom, deep brown. It was shaking its cap strangely. Goldy peered closer, but was yanked back by Thystian just in time to avoid being blasted in the face as the mushroom detonated itself. The blast caused many more around the group to start going off, and they ran, screaming, down the trail away from them.

Goldy tripped over a particularly hard mushroom, and flopped over. His belly crushed another mushroom, and he felt a burning sensation the next second. He yelped, leaping up, and saw that the mushroom had released an acid onto his belly skin. Deetria burned the substance off with light, and Goldy brushed the area until it stopped burning.

Tocsin, meanwhile, felt a strange warmth despite the cold rain, and saw a mushroom a short distance off the trail. It was glowing psychedelic colors, and he began to feel a strong desire to float over and inspect it. His eyes faded in color slightly. Deetria, noticing Tocsin drift, rushed over to him and flew between him and the mushroom. She covered his face with her body, and turned her head, eyes narrowed at the mushroom. It was not glowing colors for her, strangely. She fired a beam of light at it, and it detonated. Tocsin recovered, and blushed upon finding his face smothered by Deetria. She released him, and he looked at her. "Hypnoshroom," Thystian commented to Goldy.

"Ahh..."

The group kept moving, and being attacked by more mushrooms as they traveled, including having to burn away a pair of sentient mushrooms that attempted to impede their path. Eventually, the group happened to begin to notice that some of the roots reaching out of and into the ground were moving. Some would wiggle, others would retract into the ground like snakes. "...Something's alive out there..." Tocsin warned, voice quiet.

Thunder rumbled, and the rain had yet to cease. "...This is a trap..." Thystian whispered.

He directed everyone to move faster along the trail. They ran as much as they could, being tripped frequently, sometimes seemingly by the direct intention of the mushrooms. Within a few minutes, they could see ahead of them a huge mushroom. At least twelve feet tall and bright white, it stood out in the gloom. Thystian stopped, and looked around, seeing that the mushrooms all around them were congregated with the roots in such a manner that they could not circumnavigate the monster fungus. He turned around, and yelped at the sight of large roots forming in the way. "...Here we go again..." Tocsin muttered. Thunder rumbled.

The group turned around again, and could see that the mushroom had somehow moved closer to the group. It then began to mutate, and transform into a creature. Thystian quickly scanned it.

The creature's mushroom cap was huge, narrow with only a slight rise to the center. The gills exhumed a strange green sparkling dust that was carried quickly to the ground when rain was exposed to it. A pair of eyes opened on the creature, shimmering a glorious blue, and a small, perhaps feminine mouth formed below them, creating a face. The creature had developed what appeared to be a set of breasts, but they were covered by a white skirt-like growth from the stem that draped over them. The stem itself was curvy in such a manner that it looked like a female body. A creaking sound was heard, and two feminine arms reached out of the sides of the stem. The stem continued on down into an egg-shape covering that reached up right at about the "hips" of the creature. Goldy couldn't help but think that the creature actually looked rather sexy. He then slapped himself.

"Malamanita'Verna..." Thystian droned.

"Practicing incantations or something?" Tocsin snapped.

"That's what my scans are telling me that thing is... It's a female mushroom creature very distantly related to the Puerosulans, a race of plant beings..." Thystian explained.

The Malamanita'Verna grinned, showing a set of razor-sharp teeth with big fangs. Thystian drew his bow. "Stay out of the dust cloud under its cap... That dust will kill you fast..." Thystian warned.

The group prepared to fight this creature. All around it, roots had risen up, forming a mushroom-filled arena. The enemy suddenly lashed her arms out at Thystian, grabbing him, and pulled him up close, bringing their faces close to each other. She then spoke with a feminine voice, in a language the dragons couldn't understand. "...Charmed..." Thystian said, "But I'm going to have to decline."

He then punched the creature in the face, causing her to shriek. She flung him away, snarling. She exhaled, releasing a cloud of spores that aggressively flew toward the group, unhindered by the rain. Thunder rumbled. Goldy and Tocsin blasted flames at the spores, while Deetria fired a blast of light at the Malamanita'Verna. The light caused her to shriek, and burned a portion of her body. However, the damage quickly healed away.

Thystian, on his feet, drew his bow with three arrows and fired them. They stabbed into areas of the creature's body, and she shrieked again. The arrows were then pulled into her body, and the wounds faded. Thystian grunted in annoyance. Malamanita'Verna thrust her hands into the ground, and several hand-like appendages rose from the ground around Goldy and grabbed him. They began slashing at him with thorny claws. He cried out. Tocsin and Deetria freed Goldy by attacking these limbs, which were easily destroyed.

Meanwhile, Thystian leapt at the enemy, and landed on her cap. He took out his hammer, and slammed it down. The whole creature dropped into the ground, leaving the cap laying on the surface. With a sudden springy movement, she popped back up, launching Thystian high into the sky. He was struck by lightning, and thunder boomed. Goldy blazed flames at the enemy. To his horror, she laughed them off, before bringing a hand up to below her mouth, palm up, fingers aimed at Goldy. She then exhaled audibly, and a cloud of pink dust raced forward and engulfed him. Goldy accidentally inhaled some before trying to hold his breath. He quickly fell asleep. Thystian crashed down in the background behind Malamanita'Verna as she faced the dragons.

Deetria, unafraid of this monster mushroom for some reason, blasted her in the face with a concentrated beam of light. Malamanita'Verna shrieked, covering her face with a hand. She thrusted her other into the ground, and root-like tendrils popped up and lashed at Deetria viciously. She squealed in fear, trying to avoid their attacks, but was struck by one from above and plunged to the ground, where they began whipping away at her. She squealed loudly, and started to cry. Tocsin, angered by this, blasted the tendrils with flame, obliterating them. He turned and fired an orb of plasma at Malamanita'Verna. The orb subsequently detonated, and caused the entire creature to jolt with a shriek. All of the wounds quickly began to heal away however. Tocsin growled in frustration.

The creature then yelped, and a blast blew out a good portion of her back. She teetered a bit, before the wound cleared up. Thystian fired another arrow, which exploded. The wounds kept healing before he could add to the damage, and he growled. He drew an Amethyst Arrow, and fired for the back of the creature's head. The arrow ripped through, and she screamed. She rotated back to face Thystian, and hissed at him, the wound healing.

"WAKE! UP!!" Tocsin yelled, bashing Goldy in the face.

Goldy was sound asleep, and Deetria lay on the ground, whimpering, whip lashes all over her body. She slowly rose up, and whimpered some more. Tocsin moved to her and said, "Steady, Deetria. We'll get through this. Try using your Status Waves."

Deetria nodded, and released Status Waves at Malamanita'Verna. The entire creature suddenly shrank to normal mushroom size. She squealed. This got Tocsin and Deetria laughing.

Thystian marched over and attempted to crush the mushroom creature with his mallet, but she retracted into the ground to avoid. She popped up right next to his mallet as it lay on the ground. Thystian growled, and smashed his mallet down again, but she again dodged the same way. Soon Thystian was smashing constantly all around himself. "It's like a twisted version of Whack-a-mole!" he shouted with annoyance.

Meanwhile, Tocsin directed Deetria to shoot Goldy in the face with a beam of light. This woke him up with a yell. He looked around, and noticed Thystian smashing the ground all around him yelling in an alien language. It quite likely sounded like profanity. "What the..." he said, quietly.

"I shrank the mushroom!" Deetria squealed, then yelped in pain. "Please heal me..." she whimpered.

Goldy complied, and Deetria soon felt much better.

"AUGH!" Thystian yelled, Malamanita'Verna's shrunken status having worn off. She now had him in her clutches, with a sick grin. She said something, and Thystian was silent.

"...Somebody DO SOMETHIIIINNNGGG!!!" he shouted as Malamanita'Verna's mouth opened very wide, and she moved Thystian to devour him.

Goldy, in desperation, fired his Healing Beams at Thystian, but ended up hitting the mushroom being's arm. She screamed, dropping Thystian, and looked at her arm. It was severely burned, and not healing. Thystian crab-walked backwards away from her, then noticed. Malamanita'Verna snarled at Goldy, and exhaled spores at him. Goldy, also realizing, blasted flames to destroy the spores, then charged forward, yelling, and firing his healing beams.

Malamanita'Verna screamed in a horrible manner, the beams doing severe damage. "Unholy indeed..." Thystian muttered, laying on the ground, lifting his torso up a bit with his hands back.

Tocsin and Deetria flew down to Thystian's head height around him and watched as Goldy ran around the creature blasting her with his beams. She was beginning to melt now, and squealed in pain. She reached for Thystian, before her cap became too heavy for her body to support. It collapsed down on her, with a yelp being the last sound heard from her.

Goldy hopped onto the cap and started shooting it with the beams. The cap ignited, and Goldy jumped off, before walking over to stand beside Thystian. Thystian was getting to his feet at this moment, and the four watched as the cap burned. Then the roots and mushrooms all around them began to disintegrate.

Yet the rain would not let up. Soon Tocsin realized how cold he was again, and shivered. "What was she saying to you, Thystian?" Goldy asked.

Thystian looked at Goldy, dead silence. Goldy realized it was a bad question, and looked onward instead. Ahead, the trail lead them to a hilly plains region with sparse trees. "How much further..." Tocsin asked, Deetria once again shielding him.

"I... don't... know..." Thystian muttered. They moved on.

~~04~~

"Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day!" Deetria sang innocently.

Tocsin sighed. The group was attempting to climb up the side of a hill. Goldy rolled by the group, having slipped on wet grass. The group was having immense difficulty climbing these hills, the ground almost as slippery as ice. "Undulate Field is nice when it's not raining like this..." Thystian commented.

Goldy, having stopped himself by digging his hands into the ground, muttered, "I feel so unmotivated..."

The roaring of wind could be heard some distance behind the group. Tocsin happened to look back, and his eyes widened. "TORNADO!!!" he screamed.

Everyone immediately looked back, and indeed a tornado was forming some distance off. "MOTIVATED ENOUGH NOW?!" Thystian yelled as the group tore up the hill away from it.

Upon reaching the top, Goldy slipped on the wet grass again, causing Thystian to crash on top of him. Tocsin and Deetria hovered in the air, Deetria squealing in fear, looking around. Tocsin scoured the land around them from the hill's crest, and noticed, off in the distance in one direction, a house. "What the..." he mumbled.

Thystian looked up and saw it too. "A house in the middle of the Undulate Fields... Now that's something I didn't know," he commented.

It was creepy-looking in the gloom, with a single story and standing on twelve-foot-tall stilts. Tocsin could swear he saw what looked like a pair of red eyes peering out at them from a window. "Shelter!" Deetria squealed as she rushed down the hill toward the house.

"W-wait!" Tocsin once again shouted, before pursuing.

Thystian scrambled up, and looked back, seeing the tornado roaming the land off away from them. He began to rush down the hill, and ended up slipping and rolling uncontrollably. The same occurred with Goldy, and the two crashed into each other at the bottom of the hill.

The rain just wouldn't stop, and thunder boomed loudly. The group drew near to the house, and looked up at it. There were no stairs leading up to it, which confused Goldy. "How do we get up there?" he asked.

Thystian picked him up, and held him up to reach the ledge of the building's porch. Goldy wiggled his arms a bit, but couldn't reach. Thystian then tossed him lightly straight up, and Goldy clutched the ledge. He climbed up. Before even finishing though, Thystian had leapt up and landed on the porch with a thud.

This porch was large, with a fully-covering roof and was rimmed with railing that reached up to Goldy's face. It appeared to circle the entire building. There was indoor/outdoor carpeting all across the floor. Some old furniture rested here, including a pair of rocking chairs, and a porch swing on the opposite end. The wind was disturbing them all.

Thystian got to the door, and opened it. He charged right on in. The rest of the group followed.

~~05~~

Having just barged right on in, the dripping-wet group stood right at the front door, standing on a tiled floor. Thystian slammed the door shut behind him, before leaning against it. Deetria shook herself to get the water off, and Tocsin mumbled, being hit by drops. Goldy did the same, before looking around.

The room ahead of them was wide open, with a thick, white carpet. They had entered directly into the living room. To the right was a half-height wall with wooden bars reaching to the ceiling. Apparently a dining room was beyond it. There was a sliding door on the wall to the right in the dining room. The room terminated at a wall with a door that was near to the corner where the right wall and the wall ahead met. There was a doorway in the middle of the half-height wall. In the living room, almost directly ahead of them, a corridor could be seen reaching further into the building. Immediately to their left was a large couch, and the wall to their left was a giant bay window that curved outward onto the porch area, before turning straight, and then curving back in after a few feet. Next to the window was another sliding door, before the wall turned to the right, and then connected to the corridor. There also was a large recliner close to the wall in the space between the window and the door.

Immediately noticeable, everything in this building was very musty. Right down to the carpet. When Goldy took a step forward onto the carpet, dust puffed out from around his foot. Despite how wet everything was outside, it was dry as a bone in here. Yet at the same time, the place seemed well maintained. The roof did not leak, and everything appeared to be in good condition, if dusty. The rain could be heard pouring onto the roof above however, and thunder rumbled from outside. "...Hello?" Goldy called, nervous.

There was no immediate response, and Thystian sighed, looking around. Deetria squealed in fear, and the group looked. Approaching them from out of the corridor, was a large, male, spectral being of some sort. With a humanoid body, he was at least six feet seven inches tall. His skin was a deep blue color. His hair was long, a slightly lighter shade of blue, and appeared to be made more of mist than hair itself. As a result, it hung, uneffected by gravity, in the air. His limbs were elongated to a degree, and bony. His face was mostly humanoid, but for a visible lack of a nose, with not even a hole for one. The eye sockets were also empty, filled with a glowing red color. His face was quite wrinkled. Emerging from his shoulders were small spikes, solid black in color. Minor, straight, short horns, also solid black, protruded from above his temples, just below the hair line. He appeared to be wearing an evening robe of grey. He drifted in the air, though he had a complete body. He had a very strong frown on his face, as though he were preparing to confront an enemy.

Deetria hid behind Tocsin, who watched with fear. Goldy, too, was afraid. Thystian, however, stepped forward, surprising the group, and held out a hand, palm up. He spoke, "Sir, please do not be alarmed. We are not intruders, but rather travelers just attempting to get away from the storm. I apologize for the rude, unpermitted entry. I am Thystian."

The man continued to approach, though his fierce expression softened slightly. He remained frowning however, and glided over to look at Thystian closely. He then peered at Goldy, Tocsin and Deetria, who were all afraid of him. He looked back at Thystian, and spoke with a firm, yet hollow voice, "I see... ...Clearly, yes, you seem to be as you claim. Soaked, battleworn, exhausted. Very well. You seek refuge? My home is yours."

Thystian nodded, and responded, "I thank you. But right now we've got a bigger concern. There's a tornado out there..."

The ghost being smirked, and replied, "There are always tornados out there. This house is embedded with runes that render it immune to the weather. Tornados are no threat to us."

"That explains the dryness..." Goldy remarked.

Thystian sighed, relaxing now. Goldy and Tocsin calmed as well. Deetria was peeking out at the ghost being now, and rose from her hiding spot behind Tocsin, to drift over and inspect him. He looked at her, and she peered back, curious. He lifted a hand and let her land on his finger. Thystian leaned by a hand on the couch, and began to run a diagnostic on his suit. "I've... never seen a being like you before," Deetria said innocently. Tocsin approached.

"I am Recktwan, and I am a Xenogeist," he responded.

"Ooh," Deetria cooed.

Goldy happened to notice movement, and looked to see a small female face peeking out at them from behind the half-height wall. The being slowly ducked behind it. Goldy looked at Tocsin, who shared the look. Recktwan then spoke, "Shiva, Piich, it's safe. We have guests."

"Oh! Guests?" a female voice called out.

Emerging from the doorway in the dining room's back wall was a female Xenogeist. She was only five feet seven inches. Her general design was the same as Recktwan's. Her skin color was a pale white, her eyes a soulless blue, her hair a matching shade of blue, and she had a lone horn, solid black, slightly longer than Recktwan's, in the center of their head, above her forehead, just within the hairline. It pointed out and up at a straight angle. She was wearing a similar grey robe, which hugged her ethereal body, and suggested she did have developed form despite being a spectral entity.

She drifted into the living room, and behind her followed a small female Xenogeist. She was technically only around two feet in height, with a bluish-white body, her father's eyes, and her mother's hair, though it appeared more billowing. Clearly she was the child of the two. Her horn, solid black, was only a couple inches in length, just below her hairline. Unlike her parents, her body ceased to exist at halfway down her torso, trailing off into a mist, thus the low height amount. Her arms were fully existent though, and she wore a large, deep blue collar that covered her whole body and had slits cut into its sides to allow her arms through.

They gathered in front of the group. "This is my wife, Shiva," Recktwan stated, gesturing to the adult woman. She smiled at the group softly. "And this is my daughter, Piich," Recktwan finished, gesturing to the girl, who had an unfriendly expression.

"I am Thystian. And my friends here are Tocsin, Goldy and Deetria," Thystian replied.

Deetria waved with her tail at them. Tocsin just nodded, staying next to Deetria, the two of them beside Thystian. Goldy waved.

"It's been so long since we've had guests!" Shiva said enthusiastically, "Are you hungry?"

Goldy thought about it, while Tocsin replied, "Do you actually carry food?"

"We do not eat, but the occasional guest we have does, so we keep fresh supplies in stasis," Recktwan replied.

"Please, I insist on it," Shiva pleaded.

"Well why not? Shouldn't turn down food whenever it's offered," Goldy said with a grin.

Shiva rushed back into the dining room and to the door to the back, apparently to a kitchen. Deetria was now distracted by the fact the girl seemed to have an incomplete body. The girl glared at her.

"Alright, do you have towels or something? I'm practically sloshing over here..." Thystian said.

Recktwan escorted Thystian and Goldy to the corridor in the back to a bathroom where they dried off. "You're pretty, in a mysterious way..." Deetria said to Piich.

The girl narrowed an eye, arching the other. She replied with an evil tone in her voice, "I guess so. What are you?"

"I'm a Dimension Dragon!" Deetria said enthusiastically. She asked, "Why does your body cut off like that?"

Piich looked annoyed, and replied, "I'm growing, you crazy pink thing. Xenogeists start off as balls of spectral fire and develop their humanoid form and extra parts over time while still being able to move around and talk. Now leave me alone."

She drifted back into the dining room. Deetria and Tocsin looked at each other.

~~06~~

Shiva had presented an impressive meal with fresh foods, many of which were unfamiliar to Goldy and Tocsin, being Wenonaen in origin. The group had since moved to the living room, where Goldy sat on the floor, back to a wall. Piich was no where in sight. Deetria and Tocsin were settled on the reclining chair next to each other. Shiva and Recktwan sat together on the couch, while Thystian sat on the floor, legs crossed, back to the window.

"And so, thanks to Goldy, we managed to defeat that mushroom being. We followed the trail a bit more, then saw the tornado, and ran for our lives, once again," Thystian finished.

"Ohhh I envy you and your friends, getting to travel so much and see so many things," Shiva responded.

"Believe me, some of the things we went through were definitely not enviable..." Tocsin commented.

Shiva smiled, a hand to her mouth. A yawn was heard, and the group looked at Goldy. He yawned wide, showing that he actually did have a pretty impressive set of teeth. He finished the yawn, eyes half open. "Now that I think about it..." he mumbled, "I haven't SLEPT in hours either..."

He slowly tilted to the left, and flopped to the floor with a dusty thud, asleep. Deetria giggled. Shiva smiled at the sight. Thystian exclaimed, "Good lord, he's right! We've been running around for a total of thirty-nine hours... I'm amazed he lasted this long."

"Considering some of the perils you experienced, sir Thystian, I would be lead to believe adrenaline kept him going," Recktwan replied.

"And it's really late into the night on this planet too, even though it's impossible to tell the difference... Would it be alright if we slept here?" Thystian asked.

"Of course," Recktwan replied, getting up from the couch, "After what you've been through, you deserve as much sleep as you can get."

"Thank you so much for the hospitality," Deetria chimed.

Recktwan nodded at her, a firm but friendly expression. He took Shiva by the hand, and the two drifted out of the living room. Piich peeked out at the group from over the half-height wall again, eyes narrowed. Thystian stood up, walked over, and climbed onto the couch, laying on his back. His suit's lights then cut off. Deetria looked at Tocsin, who returned the look. "Night night," she said cutely.

"...Good night Deetria," Tocsin replied gently.

Deetria laid her head down, closing her eyes, and Tocsin looked at her for a few minutes. He glanced over at Piich, who was still watching, eyes narrowed. He returned the glare. She slowly receded behind the wall. He then laid his head down, and closed his eyes.

Thunder rumbled in the distance.

~~07~~

The storm had finally stopped. There was a steady breeze outside, and the land seemed just a little bit less gloomy, though the thick black clouds remained, and thunder could be heard.

Thystian's suit lights suddenly came on, and he could be heard yawning. He then yelped with a jump, seeing, floating above him, Piich, bearing a dark look. She settled closer and traced, with a finger, the symbol on Thystian's helmet.

"NeoSPGXA..." she said quietly, "When I am old enough, I'm going to leave this place and join your faction... I have read a lot about Vasilis, and one day I will meet him."

Thystian chuckled, and sat up on the couch, looking at Piich. "Do you have special talents?" he asked.

"Pyromancy..." she replied with a drone.

"Hmm... Interesting," Thystian replied.

"What are you after, anyway?" she asked in a deflated tone.

"Maybe I should speak to your father about that," Thystian replied.

"I am here," Recktwan stated, surprising Thystian. Recktwan approached the back of the couch, and looked at him.

"Good morning, sir Thystian. What say you?" he added.

"Morning. Thanks again for the food and board. I'm feeling totally refreshed. Now, as for your daughter's question, I am here seeking Darklight Crystal," Thystian explained.

Recktwan frowned, and looked out the big window. He thought for a minute, while Thystian got to his feet and stretched. His suit emitted a loud hissing noise for a couple of seconds, and Thystian held still during it. Piich looked at him strangely, and he noticed. "Body cleaning system. Not always is there a shower at the ready to use," he replied. Piich nodded slowly.

The hissing seemed to awaken Deetria. She raised her head, and emitted a cute little yawn. She gazed out at Thystian for a minute with a contented look on her face. She then looked at Tocsin, and noticed that he'd moved his tail to rest on hers. Her expression filled with charm, and she cooed quietly. She snuggled up against Tocsin, laying a couple of wings on him, and closed her eyes again.

Recktwan spoke, "Well, sir Thystian, I do know of a cave where it is said Darklight Crystal can be found, and I can take you there, but it is a deathtrap. You will be in serious danger there."

"It's alright. We've got a healer now, and we've handled everything up to this point pretty well. I'm willing to pay you too, for escort to the cave," Thystian offered.

"Payment is not necessary. We've visited the cave entrance many times. It is a place of importance to us. Thus, we know well how to get there. I will prepare myself and my wife to lead you, while you prepare for departure. We will take you there, but we will not help you with the threats within," Recktwan stated, turning to head to the back.

Thystian nodded, and said, "Fair enough. Thank you."

Suddenly, Goldy awoke with a start, yelling, "AAAH!!! BLUEY NO!! ... Oh. Where? ...Oh yeah..."

He sat up, and rubbed his eyes. Thystian, Piich and Deetria stared at him in surprise. His outcry had awakened Tocsin as well. Tocsin immediately noticed that Deetria had snuggled all over him practically, and his face grew whiter. Deetria looked at him with a cheery expression and squealed, "Morning Tocsin! How'd you sleep?"

"...Well... I normally sleep better in a furnace, but it was nice at least," he replied.

Piich looked at him skeptically, and asked, "You sleep in furnaces?"

"I'm a plasma dragon. I absorb fire, and use it to sustain myself," Tocsin replied.

"Hmm... Sounds pleasant," She replied, darkly.

Recktwan and Shiva then exited from the back, wearing different kinds of robes, these more durable than their night robes. "Are you ready?" Recktwan asked.

"We ready to go?" Thystian asked his friends.

Goldy nodded. Tocsin still half buried under Deetria also nodded. Deetria replied, "I'm feeling totally refreshed! Let's go!"

Thystian nodded at Recktwan, and he returned the nod. "Take care of the house, Piich," Recktwan said gently.

She nodded, with an annoyed expression, then drifted off to the dining room. Recktwan and Shiva drifted toward the front door, and Thystian and Goldy followed. Tocsin looked at Deetria, who looked back. She nuzzled him gently, then took to the air to follow. Tocsin sighed contentedly, and followed.

Once on the porch, Recktwan pointed in a direction. He spoke, "We will not be following the trail, but rather, we will be heading toward Stormtrek Plains. Follow my lead, and do not deviate from it. The land is carpeted with thick grass that disguises deep pools and small pits in the ground. I will lead you safely through them, but you must follow my path."

Everyone acknowledged, and Recktwan quickly began to glide to the ground off the porch and toward Undulate Fields. Shiva stayed immediately behind him. Thystian leapt down after, and Goldy followed suit. Tocsin and Deetria stayed in the back slightly. The group moved off toward the hilly lands, which had since dried a little. Thunder rumbled from the dark clouds above. Piich looked out at the group from a window, with eyes narrowed.

~~08~~

Recktwan had lead the group over several hills, moving straight at the moment. Soon, at the top of a hill, they could see that the land shortly began to flatten out. It was quite clearly a prairie, only much wetter. Grass that reached to calf-height covered the land, which was also dotted with large mushrooms, bushes, and the occasional tree. Traveling across the land were many shadows of strange and random shapes, with no clear source in sight.

"Do you wish to take this course swiftly?" Recktwan asked, momentarily holding position.

"The faster the better..." Tocsin replied, "Before more rain comes."

"Very well. Follow us," Recktwan stated, and he and his wife glided down the hill swiftly.

Thystian ran to follow, as did Goldy. Tocsin and Deetria kept up easily.

Recktwan flew straight, then turned sharply to the left. Shiva turned as well. Thystian and Goldy turned in that direction once they reached the spot of Recktwan's turn. Recktwan passed several bushes, turned right, and began moving in a leftward curve. Thystian and Goldy attempted to follow as best as they could, though Goldy strayed just a few feet before turning, and with a splash he disappeared in the grass. Recktwan stopped, looking back, eyes narrowed. Thystian skidded to a stop, while Tocsin and Deetria hovered over the spot.

Goldy scrambled out, flicking leeches off of him. He scratched the back of his head. The group was passed over by another large shadow, and thunder rumbled after a few seconds. They resumed course, and eventually Recktwan's flight straightened out, then began to curve slowly to the right instead. Thystian turned just a little too soon, and his foot plunged into a hole in the ground. He grunted, nearly falling forward, but his armor prevented his leg from breaking. Recktwan stopped, looking back, eyes narrowed, again. The group watched as Thystian attempted to pull his foot free, but couldn't. He grunted, then yelped, "There's something in there PULLING DOWN!"

Recktwan and Goldy approached, and hefted Thystian by his arms. They plucked his foot free, and discovered a fanged plant creature clamped onto Thystian's foot.

"Hmm... A Moor Trap Flower. We don't usually deal with these, considering we are airborne..." Recktwan commented.

Goldy blazed the flower with fire, and it shrieked, releasing Thystian's foot, and retracted into its hole fast. Goldy and Recktwan set Thystian down, and Recktwan stated, "Follow more closely, sir Thystian..."

He turned, and they resumed course.

More running, more turning, more near misses with holes, and the group soon began to hear the sound of water draining loudly. Ahead, they could see a very creepy looking cave entrance punched into the ground at a sharp angle. Recktwan and Shiva slowed to a stop at the entrance to this cave, which bore spike rocks that made it look a little too much like a maw. A stream was flowing into it, thus the draining sound. Deetria shivered at the sight, and Goldy became unnerved.

Recktwan spoke, "And here it is, sir Thystian... The Pit of Voids. If you can get past the deadly creatures and traps within, you will find your prize. Beware, our ancestors were paranoid, and set the traps of this cave up. Even after long abandonment of them, no one that has entered has survived..."

"We'll make it, right my friends?" Thystian replied.

Tocsin nodded. Deetria nodded warily. Goldy shrugged. He looked at the group, taking in glares, and nodded out of fear. "Thanks once again for all you've done. Until next time," Thystian said, to Recktwan.

Recktwan nodded, and Shiva waved, before the two headed back the way they came.

The group looked toward the cave.

An inky darkness, filled with water, beckoned them to enter. Inside, the third element awaited.

END

Dragon Tails © Tim Dawson

Wenonah Galaxy © Adrian Smith


	7. 07: Cave of Horror

Roseus Elementeus

Chapter Seven – Cave of Horror

~~00~~

There Thystian, Goldy, Tocsin and Deetria lingered, before the entrance to the Pit of Voids, a cavern that reached deep into the crust of Domargomka'Irysme's surface. Supposedly littered with traps and inhabited by deadly creatures, it was a frightening sight to behold.

Thystian looked at his group. Goldy and Deetria gazed with fear at the cavern entrance, while Tocsin just happened to be looking at Thystian. Thystian spoke, "Guys, would you like to wait a few minutes and talk?"

Everyone looked at Thystian, and Deetria replied, "I would. I think I'm gonna need some time to muster up courage..."

Thystian walked to the cave entrance, and sat on a rock, which had its back against the stream that drained into the cave. Goldy sat where he was in the grass. Tocsin hovered near Goldy's head, and Deetria hovered near Tocsin. Thystian spoke, "I want to make it a point now to thank all of you for sticking with me this far. We'll be half finished with our mission once we get through this next place."

"Don't mention it," Goldy replied.

Tocsin added, "We sort of don't have anywhere else to go anyway. And plus, what's an adventure when there's no danger involved? We've had difficulties, but I think we're making it through this pretty well."

Deetria watched Tocsin as he spoke. Thystian replied, "I'm glad you feel that way. I was starting to grow concerned that you were beginning to regret joining Deetria and I on this mission."

Tocsin looked at Deetria upon hearing this, and said, mostly to Thystian, "I know I'M not."

Deetria lowered her head in cute embarrassment. Goldy looked, and grinned, before looking back at Thystian and saying, "Yeah, I'm not either actually. This has been pretty cool, and I'm looking forward to having my own big adventure under my belt to tell my brothers about. They're gonna be so jealous! Heh heh."

"Good... Good..." Thystian responded.

The group fell silent for a few minutes, and Goldy laid back. He wasn't tired, just relaxing. Tocsin and Deetria, meanwhile, exchanged glances a few times. A large shadow passed over them, and thunder rumbled a few minutes later. A rain drop nailed Goldy's eye, and he flinched. "Here comes the rain again..." he said, sitting upright, and continued, "I'm ready to go when you are."

Thystian got off his rock, and everyone looked at him. "Right, let's get going," Thystian acknowledged.

"You feeling up to it, Deetria?" Tocsin asked.

"Yes... Yes, I'm ready. I don't wanna be rained on again..." She replied.

Everyone nodded in confirmation, before marching toward the cavernous entrance.

~~01~~

At the entrance, the group observed that the water flowed down a ditch in the middle of the cave. Two dry-ish walkways of stone on either side of the ditch descended into the cave. Thystian stepped onto the left platform, while Goldy took the right. These platforms, which were narrow, required careful stepping, and the group moved into the cave.

Deeper they descended, the already poor light from outside fading. Thystian, knowing the darkness was complete ahead, activated his suits brights immediately. "ACKPTTHH!!" Goldy exclaimed suddenly.

Everyone saw he'd gotten himself caught in a huge spiderweb that covered his corner half of the cavernous entrance. A large spider watched from a corner, not about to try and attack Goldy. He struggled, getting more and more tangled. Finally, Tocsin decided to blast the web with flames. It burned away almost instantly, and the spider fled. Goldy flopped onto the platform and quivered a bit, before getting up. "Do I still have any on me?" he asked.

"There's a little between your wings still," Thystian said, pointing.

Goldy frantically flapped his wings to break the webbing off. He peeked back, seeing it was gone. He nodded at everyone, and they resumed their careful downward trek, the slope growing steeper.

"WAUGH!" Thystian yelled, having stepped on a very slippery stone. His foot flew into the air out from under him and he crashed down, bouncing on the rock and landing in the water, before flipping through the air multiple times in a horrible crashing descent into the cave. The group watched his glowing suit bounce away down into the cave with metal crunches.

Goldy looked at Tocsin and Deetria, and said, "I am glad I'm not the only one that has kind of stuff like that happen to him..."

Deetria squealed in fear, and followed after Thystian quickly. Tocsin followed Deetria, and Goldy moved down his side of the cave faster to keep close to the light.

At the base of the descent, the cave leveled out, heading forward for the moment, with creepy, deep blue stone spikes protruding from the ceiling and floor. The water formed a pool at the bottom of the slope, which produced a small whirlpool and drained into a hole in the center. Thystian had flipped clean over this pool and landed face down on the ground. Deetria and Tocsin swooped down to him, and she squealed, "Thystian! Are you ok?!"

Thystian suddenly gave a thumbs-up, before staggering to his feet. He teetered a bit, before shaking his head and looked around. Goldy came sliding down the water in the center, squealing with delight, and plunged into the pool. The whirlpool was too small to catch him however, and he crawled out of the water. He approached Thystian, and snickered. After a moment, Thystian commented, "...Yeah... I guess we could have done that."

The group moved on.

The cavern was somewhat small, but big enough for everyone to be grouped together. Similar to the Pearl Grotto back on Coll, water could be seen coming out of holes in the wall, and forming pools on the ground. The ceiling dripped of water in numerous places, irritating Tocsin. They followed the passage, as it turned sharply right. The strange sound of metal squeaking against metal could be heard, followed by a brief rush of wind. They all looked each other. As they continued on, the passage lead them to the source of the noise.

~~02~~

The group followed the sound of the squeaks, being lead by the cave itself as it curved still more. Thystian jolted suddenly, stepping down into a large pool that stretched on ahead of them. Very shortly, they exited the narrow tunnel into a large, long chamber, from which the loud squeaking could be heard. A squeak, then a rush of wind, then a squeak, then a rush of wind. And it seemed to be in sets of three. As they moved forward, they yelped as a huge spike ball, hanging by a chain, swung past them, visible thanks to Thystian's suit lights. "...THAT is a classic..." Goldy commented.

Thystian prepared to rush, when he suddenly felt like he could barely move his legs. He looked down at the water, and noticed that it was tar black, yet not thick. He scanned it, then muttered, "This water is cursed... It's causing us to move slow..."

"Ugh! UUUUGH!" Goldy grunted, trying to move faster, but simply couldn't.

"How do we avoid them if we can't run?!" Deetria squealed.

"Heh... Simple..." Thystian replied, taking out his mallet, "We don't avoid, we destroy."

Thystian trudged up to be right beside the Spike Ball as it swung past. He watched it rise up and slow to a stop near the ceiling, before swinging back down. He swung his mallet, impacting it, and with an incredible metallic blast, the spike ball blasted apart into pieces. "Sweet," Goldy remarked.

By now it was clear to the group that there were three of these deadly things, and Thystian trudged forward to the next, carrying his mallet. He held it out, waiting for the ball to swing down. With a heavy swing, he struck the ball. It did not shatter, but instead cracked slightly and swung back up the way it came. Thystian vibrated all over from the impact, and had to recover before he could try again. The ball swung past, and up. It then began to swing back, and Thystian struck it a second time. It cracked more, but remained a threat. Thystian waited for the vibrating to stop. Goldy, Tocsin and Deetria patiently waited. On a third strike, Thystian was able to destroy the ball, and the group cheered. "One more..." he said, as he stepped forward slowly up to the third ball.

With a heavy impact, Thystian struck it, only for the ball to keep on going and throw Thystian into the water with a yelp. He got up, and was shocked. He moved, and tried again, only for the same thing to happen. He muttered, getting up, and moved to try once more. The ball seemed indestructible, and Thystian yelled in irritation. "Maybe we should try heating it first?" Goldy suggested.

Thystian just shook his head, switching to his bow. He took aim with one of his explosive arrows, and shot the ball as it passed. The arrow bounced off and nearly hit Tocsin, flying by. Tocsin yelped, Thystian apologized frantically, then thought for a minute.

His vision slowly moved up to look at the huge hook supporting the invincible ball, and he got an idea. He aimed his bow, and fired an explosive arrow. The blast destroyed the hook, and damaged the chain a bit. The ball, mid-swing when this happened, was launched to the side and crashed into a wall, causing stones to crumble around it. "Yeah! That's the way to do it!" Goldy exclaimed.

Deetria cheered happily, and the group trudged through the cursed water to get out of this chamber. Stepping up out of it, they could feel their speed returning to them. Deetria flitted about happily. Tocsin watched, with a warm expression. They moved onward, following the hallway sized chamber as it sloped down some more, curving to the left. Water dripped eerily in this otherwise silent cavern. Every pool they passed was pitch black, like a void.

~~03~~

Steeper and steeper the slope got, curving to the left a bit before straightening out. Goldy and Thystian had taken to crawling backwards in this section of cave. Thystian placed a foot, and slipped on water, which was both dripping with frequency over this section, as well as leaking from the walls and floor. He yelled out, sliding on his front down the slope. Tocsin and Deetria gave chase, and Thystian's outcry caused Goldy to slip.

Slip-sliding down the cave, it soon became a completely vertical shaft, and Thystian and Goldy tumbled into it. With two thuds, one fleshy, the other metallic, they came to a stop. Deetria and Tocsin caught up, and could see that, down this shaft, very large spikes of stone protruded from the walls on all sides. The stone spikes were very large however, and meshed with each other, resulting in an interestingly tangled passage downward. Thystian and Goldy had both landed straddled on the spikes. Goldy was alright, but he looked at Thystian, who was hunched slightly. "That looks painful..." Goldy remarked.

"It'd be more so if I didn't have armor there..." Thystian replied.

The water dripped so frequently at the top of this shaft that it seemed rainlike. Tocsin was shivering again, as the water was much colder than the rain on the surface of the planet. Deetria whimpered, and positioned herself over Tocsin. "So much for escaping the rain..." Tocsin muttered.

Thystian peered over the side of the spike he had landed on, and could not see the bottom of the shaft. "Guess we descend here. This chamber reminds me of the Teeth of Stone from planet Reverba... We'd best not make the same mistake a man named Aidan did when he tried to descend it..."

"He fell and hit his head?" Goldy asked.

Thystian nodded. He slowly slid to the edge of the spike, and stepped off onto one below. He began a slow, careful descent of the spikes, which was very precarious considering how wet they were. Goldy had an easier time however. He hopped off a spike, and used his wings to slow his fall as he descended.

A sudden "WHISK" sound was heard, and crashing ensued. The group watched, wincing, as Thystian had slipped and fell down the shaft some distance, bashing various points of his body on the spikes, before grabbing one and hanging on. Cracks formed in many of the spikes on impact.

"Pain... So much pain..." Thystian groaned.

Tocsin and Deetria, carefree, flew by the two, just swooping and swerving around the spikes, heading straight down. "...Show offs..." Goldy muttered as he continued his steadily-paced hopping descent.

Twice more Thystian slipped on the spikes on his descent. Every bouncing descent cracked spikes and chipped others. Thystian grunted and yelped and shouted in his native language on the way down.

Finally, the group reached the bottom of the shaft, where it made a ninety-degree bend and headed straight forward. Tocsin and Deetria noticed that the ground at the bottom of this shaft seemed badly eroded by the water. Goldy slowly came to a soft landing on his feet, and looked forward. Two thuds, and a wham, and Thystian landed face down on the ground, arms out, legs bent up at the knees. He slowly went limp on the ground. The others gathered to him and Goldy nudged his shoulder. "You alright?" he asked.

Thystian again gave a thumb's-up, before staggering to his feet. "This place should be named 'Pit of Beating Up Thystian'," Tocsin joked.

Everyone glared at him, including Deetria, and he slowly lowered his head in shame. Goldy took this opportunity to power up his Purity Rings, and bathed Thystian in the healing beams. "Ahh..." Thystian responded, "I am SO glad we've got a healer now... Thanks Goldy."

Goldy gave a thumb's-up himself, and replied, "Just doin' my job. Glad I've got another use now other than a walking flame-thrower."

The conversation was interrupted however by the crumbling sounds of stone. Everyone looked up, and could see that one of the spikes Thystian had impacted was severely cracked, and was breaking lose. It then snapped free, and plummeted into another spike, breaking it lose. A catastrophic, contained avalanche effect unrolled, as the rain of water was joined by a rain of spike stones. Tocsin and Deetria fled out from under them while Thystian and Goldy shielded themselves with a yell.

The spikes struck hard against the floor of the shaft, which quickly developed massive cracks. With loud crumbling, the floor collapsed, and with screams, Thystian and Goldy plummeted into the new pit with the debris. Tocsin and Deetria swooped back and looked down in horror. "Thystian! Goldy!" Deetria squealed.

~~04~~

With splashes and crashes, the debris, along with Thystian and Goldy, poured into a deep pit. This pit appeared to have a section of an underground river flowing through it. While there was some dry ground along two sides of it, it was curved downward in the center, forming a ditch, as the water flowed out of a hole in one side of the pit, and into a hole on the other side. Thystian and Goldy hit the wet ground first, partially submerged, before the rocks piled on top of them. Tocsin and Deetria swooped down into the pit.

Goldy, buried deeper, front down, was held firmly in place, and noticed that the water was starting to gather around him. Most of the rock seemed to have gathered at one side of the cave, and as a result, formed a makeshift dam. The pit, as a result, was now very slowly beginning to fill with water.

Thystian, buried less than Goldy, began to struggle against the rocks on top of him. Goldy was soon submerged, and tried to hold his breath. Deetria and Tocsin flew frantic circles above the pile of rubble, and Tocsin exclaimed, "CRAP! It's times like this that I wish I had arms!"

"Nooo!!!" Deetria squealed in terror.

Thystian, still struggling against the pile, managed to activate a Power Boost in his system, by shouting in his native language. The suit turned solid purple momentarily, giving Thystian mighty force to thrust a hand out of the pile. Deetria squeaked at the sight.

Thystian grabbed at the surface, and began to pull himself out of the rocks. With a groan, he surfaced, and Deetria swooped down in front of him. He shook his head, and looked around, as well as up, seeing they were now trapped in this slowly flooding pit. "Thystian! The pit's filling with water! Goldy's gonna drown!" Deetria exclaimed.

Thystian, without a word, quickly began to grab rocks and toss them to the side, digging as fast as he could to get down to Goldy.

Goldy could feel his chest beginning to hurt from the lack of air. He closed his eyes. He suddenly opened them wide, feeling something grab his tail. With a crash, Thystian yanked Goldy free from the rocks. Goldy exhaled loudly, and started breathing again, fast at first. "Oh thank goodness..." Deetria whimpered.

Thystian set Goldy down, where he sat, hand on his chest, breathing. After a few seconds, Goldy had caught his breath, and remained seated on the rock pile. He observed as Thystian attempted to climb the side of the shaft, but heavy moisture erosion caused rocks to constantly crumble under him. "We're stuck..." he said, grunting in irritation.

"Can't you use your Hoverboard?" Goldy asked.

"No, it can't go straight up and down like that, only hover a few feet the ground at the most," Thystian replied.

Goldy grunted, sitting with his elbows on his knees, chin in hands. Tocsin asked, "How heavy is your suit?"

"It's heavy but... I can float... Ahh, yes, I see what you're getting at," Thystian replied, Tocsin nodding.

Deetria and Goldy did not however, and looked confused. "We let the pit fill with water, and float to the top," Thystian explained.

"Ahhh... Yeah, I could see that working," Goldy replied, watching the water slowly fill.

"But that could take hours!" Deetria exclaimed.

"At least well be able to escape, period..." Thystian replied.

Deetria sighed, and looked at Tocsin. He slowly shook his head.

Thus, with no other choice, the group waited, as patiently as they could.

~~05~~

It felt like it had already been hours, and the pit was now about a third filled, leaving the debris below. Thystian and Goldy floated on the surface, Goldy on his back, hands on the back of his head. "At least its comfortable..." Goldy remarked.

"I spy with my little eye, something brown and furry!" Deetria said cutely.

Everyone got a confused expression, and looked around. There, peeking out of a hole in a wall, was a mole creature of some sort. It ducked back into its hole. "...Crap... That thing just dug a drain for the water..." Thystian remarked.

A sharp hiss suddenly blasted from above the group. They looked up, and saw nothing. They all looked at each other. Tocsin and Deetria, after exchanging a glance, flew up to the top of the pit to look for the source.

Upon reaching the top and looking at the straight path, they found themselves staring into the massive, slit-pupiled eyes of a humongous snake that was at least half the size of the passage itself. Its eyes glowed yellow, and it had horn-shaped plates over both its eyes and its nostrils. Deetria started to tremble, then shrieked loudly. Tocsin too was wide-eyed at the sight. The creature blasted a hissing roar at the two, revealing massive fangs, but then shoved them out of its way as it looked down into the pit. "HOLY CRAP!!" Goldy screamed upon seeing the creature peer down at them.

"Man, I was wondering when we'd actually run into a living thing..." Thystian stated, a worried tone to his voice.

The huge snake flicked its tongue out at them a couple times, swaying from side to side slightly, then hissed audibly. It seemed to develop a grin. Tocsin and Deetria swooped past it, down to the others below. "And do you know what it is?!" Tocsin exclaimed.

"Log book entry: Sulaja Horridus. Monster snake that inhabits the undergrounds of Domargomka'Irysme!" Thystian replied, drawing his bow.

He fired an arrow immediately, but upon impact, the arrow snapped apart on the snake's head. In fact, this shot seemed to irritate it, and it emitted a roaring hiss at them. Thystian fired another shot, an explosive arrow. It too hit the snake's head, and detonated, to no effect. The snake, now mad, launched its head down, mouth open. Thystian and Goldy thrust themselves to the sides in the water, and the snake missed in this attack, before retracting back to the top of the pit. The water level continued to rise, even after submerging the mole hole.

Thystian took aim, with an arrow, and waited. The snake emitted another roaring hiss, at which time Thystian fired the arrow. It entered square into the beast's mouth and detonated. It emitted a strange shriek, flailing its head, some blood flying about and spattering against the walls. Thystian now knew that was the best place to hit. Goldy watched helplessly, while Tocsin and Deetria stayed close to a wall out of its sight.

Thystian, preparing another explosive arrow, waited. The snake roared at the group once more, and Thystian fired his arrow. The snake however, now well aware of the harm that would do, quickly swerved to the side to let the arrow pass. It struck the ceiling of the straight passage and detonated, with no other effect. Thystian grunted in frustration.

The snake, really mad now, launched down a bit faster, and struck Goldy. It failed to stab him with a fang, or get hold of him. But the impact knocked Goldy unconscious. He slowly began to sink into the water. "Craaaap!" Thystian yelled. The snake roared at the group.

"I need a diversion!" Thystian yelled.

Tocsin quickly offered, "Leave it to us."

He looked at Deetria, who shared the look. The two nodded, and headed up to confront the snake. Thystian dove under to collect Goldy. The snake looked at the two tiny dragons as they swooped up and got in its face, before flying around frantically. The snake, irritated, wriggled and snapped at the two to drive them off, but was unable to do so. Tocsin blazed flames on the snake, but the fire had no effect. The snake, mad, hiss roared at them, scaring Deetria. Tocsin, frustrated by the flames' lack of effect, looked around, and above. His eyes took in the sight of more unbroken, but slightly damaged spikes in the shaft above. He narrowed his eyes, getting an idea. "Up there!" he shouted to Deetria.

They swooped around and flew straight up the shaft. The snake watched them, hissing in irritation.

"Let's make some GOOD use out of these spikes!" Tocsin exclaimed.

He released a plasma ball up amongst the spikes, and detonated it. Deetria squealed at the sight of the rocks falling, and, concentrating, phased herself and Tocsin out, allowing the spikes to pass by. They watched as the spikes plunged toward the snake.

Its eyes widened at the sight, before a large number of the spikes stabbed down into its head. The snake screeched, before plunging into the pit below, blood oozing rapidly from its skull.

With a loud splash, the slain snake's head landed in the water, its body still reaching up the pit and down the passage ahead. Deetria and Tocsin returned to normal, and flew down to observe. The splash was intense enough to wash Thystian and Goldy up against a wall. Goldy, now awake once again, grunted upon contact. Once the water calmed, they noticed that the snake's blood was beginning to pool in the water. "Now THAT was a great idea!" Thystian exclaimed.

"Yeah! Good work Tocsin!" Deetria squealed.

Tocsin nodded his head. Thystian and Goldy remained floating in the water, and Goldy was becoming unnerved by the slowly spreading blood. "I don't wanna be dipped in that..." he said.

Thystian, however, was looking up the snake's body as it lay against the wall, and said, "You know what? I think that snake's our way out. Climb its body!"

Goldy, realizing this would work, swam over quickly, and grabbed the snake's body. He tugged a few times, and found that it was secure. He smiled brightly, and began to climb the snake's body, getting a good grip on its scales. Thystian quickly followed. Soon, the two were out of the pit, and Deetria flew circles of joy around Thystian's head. Tocsin looked at Goldy, and said, "Close call..."

"Thanks for saving us. That was really clever of you," Goldy replied.

Tocsin just nodded. At Thystian's direction, the group began to move on, relieved to finally be able to resume progress into this pitch black cave.

~~06~~

The path ahead was long, and so was the snake's body. Goldy couldn't help but marvel at how long the snake exactly was. Its large body took up a good portion of the ground as the group traveled through this curving, pool-filled cave. With more stalactites for the group to move around, Thystian made sure to watch out for them this time. Goldy entertained himself by balance-walking on the snake's lifeless body. Deetria was quiet, a little repelled by the blackness, but feeling safe with the group.

Soon, at a fork in the tunnel, the group stopped. They observed that one path was so filled with the snake's body that it was inaccessible to Thystian or Goldy. Not wanting to split the group up for any reason, Thystian decided to take the wide-open path ahead, and so the group resumed. Goldy hopped off of the snake's body and continued with the group.

The sound of loud flowing water could be heard ahead in the tunnel after some time, and the group recognized it as a waterfall. "Is the water on this planet as pure as it was on Coll?" Goldy asked.

"Yes, actually. Water's only as pure as the planet is less polluted. Since Domargomka'Irysme has no major factions or cities on it anymore, the air is as clear, if a lot gloomier, as Coll," Thystian answered.

The tunnel suddenly turned left, and when the group made their turn, they saw that, ahead, the passage widened out into a massive cavernous chamber.

They slowly entered, and looked around at the sight. The area to the right was half-filled with a large pool of water, produced by a large waterfall pouring from a huge gap in the ceiling. In the left corner area of the chamber was a different kind of fall. It looked like a giant waterfall of stone. From the ceiling were many spikes of stone pointing down and at some points meeting with spikes pointing up, at the top of a hill of rippling, deep blue stone, reaching to the ground. A little water was flowing down the face of this huge rock formation. All along the left, reaching deep and far out ahead, was a raised and only three-foot-tall chamber, filled with muddy water and many spikes. Ahead of the group, three passages could be seen. One was directly ahead, next to the stone waterfall, one was a bit farther to the right, heading off in another direction, and a third was directly to the left of the waterfall. The wall ahead itself curved from the stone formation to the waterfall itself, supporting these passages. It appeared as though there might be a passage behind the waterfall as well, and Goldy took note that there was an additional passage, of sorts, in the ceiling.

Thystian stepped forward into the center of this huge cavernous chamber, and looked around at the sights of underground nature. Deetria drifted close to the countertop formation, and peered out into the blackness of the muddy water in the short chamber section. Tocsin floated near her, watching. Goldy stepped over to the large pool of water, and looked up at the waterfall, then at the water below. He got to his hands and knees, and sipped at the water. Cool, refreshing, pure, he drank more of it, and sighed when he was done.

Thystian watched for a few minutes, then spoke, "Now... which way... And no, I don't have a complete map of this place."

"Think your mapping device will work?" Goldy asked, walking over.

"No. It only works outside. I have to chart a map of an underground region before I'd know where to go, and needless to say, this place is largely unexplored. ...I'm going to have to file a commission to have this place more thoroughly mapped..." Thystian muttered.

Goldy nodded, watching as Deetria, who had teased Tocsin, was now fleeing from him, and chuckled.

A clicking sound interrupted their joy however, and the group looked for the source. Thystian spotted movement in the left-most chamber. He slowly readied, and the group yelped when a massive scorpion came charging out at it at Thystian, almost galloping across the ground. Thystian took two strange, hopping steps forward, and as soon as he and the scorpion met, he kicked the massive creature with a very high kick. With a squeal, the creature was flipped onto its back, and struggled. "I thought we were DONE with the huge bugs!" Tocsin exclaimed.

"Omega Scorpions are natural to the caverns of many planets..." Thystian replied.

A snarling sound was heard from above the group, and Goldy, looking up and pointing, asked, "Are giant Tarantulas natural too?"

The group looked up, to see a Tarantula easily the same size as the scorpion crawl out of the hole in the ceiling, then hop down to the ground right near Goldy. Deetria, hovering over the pool of water, her back to the waterfall, shrieked in fear.

The Huge Tarantula hopped forward slightly, snapping at Goldy with its enormous, venom-leaking fangs. Goldy, yelling, hopped backwards, before simply running, at the moment terrorized by the eight-legged freak. The creature charged after him.

Thystian, mallet ready, was currently grappling with the scorpion. It had clamped its claws on his mallet's handle, and the two seemed to wrestle for the weapon, the scorpion not attacking with its stinger just yet. Thystian, easily being guided around by the many-legged enemy, grunted in annoyance.

Goldy ran by screaming, the Huge Tarantula in hot pursuit, snarling. It leapt at him, and with a yell, he dove to avoid a leaping bite attack. He scrambled to his feet, then yelled again, diving once more as the Tarantula leapt at him, its eight legs spread and spinning like a flying blade. It landed after the strange attack, and turned quickly, snarling.

The Scorpion had managed to yank the Mallet from Thystian, who yelled out, before being bashed by his own weapon. His armor was specifically resistant however, and while he staggered, he was not launched. He lunged at the Scorpion to get his weapon back.

Tocsin, confused by the melee, floated a short distance ahead of Deetria, who herself was too afraid to help. However, something else was happening.

Slowly, steadily, silently, reaching out from the waterfall, was some kind of tentacle. Solid black in color, it was narrow and very long, and ended in a large pad for grappling. Once close enough, it suddenly lashed out, and wrapped around Deetria.

Deetria proceeded to emit a bloodcurdling scream. It quickly got everyone's attention. Thystian turned his head, the Scorpion looked, Goldy skidded to a stop, looking, the huge Tarantula turned as well, and Tocsin swung around.

Deetria whimpered, and the tentacle immediately reeled her back behind the waterfall, disappearing. Tocsin practically roared, "DeeTRIAAA!!!"

He zoomed after her, blasting clean through the waterfall, ignoring the pain it induced on him. Thystian, with a yell, yanked his mallet from the distracted Omega Scorpion. He raced toward the pool, hopped onto his hoverboard, and blasted through the waterfall. Goldy looked at the Huge Tarantula, and said, "S'cuse me."

He rushed forward, jumped, taking to the air, and blasted through the waterfall as well. The two huge arachnids lingered, looking, before facing each other, and snarling. They charged to attack each other.

~~07~~

The tunnel was tube-shaped, and littered with rocks and spikes. Loud crashing and a strange hiss was heard ahead, as well as Deetria's horrifying squealing. Tocsin, eyes narrowed to slits, glowed strong with plasma, and pursued Deetria's kidnapper, quite possibly flying faster than he ever has before. Soon he could see Deetria's glow ahead, and upon catching up to the beast, he could make out at least a dozen additional tentacles. It appeared to be some kind of monster squid, solid black in color, that sported flying capabilities. It sped up as soon as it detected Tocsin's arrival, and kept several dozen feet ahead of him. No matter how fast he flew, he couldn't reach the terrified Deetria. The tunnel curved to the right and upward, and Tocsin was soon joined by Thystian and Goldy as they followed the creature. It moved away at very high speed, but they kept up as fast as they could. Goldy, imitating airplane static, spoke, "Kssht. Gold One to Flight Leader. Target in sight. Kssht."

Tocsin just snarled. Goldy spoke, "Kssht. Gold One to Purple One. What is that thing? Kssht."

Thystian, more than serious, replied, "It's a Vulgaris Tentacles. Flying squid monster. Very rare sight... Very fast, very deadly... Stay frosty..."

The tunnel turned left, and the squid swooped that way. Thystian threw his mallet at the beast. Its many tentacles repelled the projectile back at Thystian, who caught it. The squid counterattacked by lashing its other grappling tentacle at the group. Tocsin blasted it with flames to block. The tunnel curved upward slightly, then to the left. Tocsin fired a plasma orb at the beast. The blast made it grunt, but it kept going. Deetria squealed. Thystian fired an arrow at the beast, but the projectile was repelled. The creature suddenly shot off to the left in a fork, but the trio of pursuers turned in as well, and the tunnel headed down and to the left. Tocsin fired another plasma orb. The creature took the hit in stride. It suddenly whipped its tentacle out at Tocsin, who easily dodged, enraged. He blasted flames at the creature, which ignored them. Thystian fired an Amethyst Arrow at the creature. It grunted again. The group entered a wide chamber that the creature sped straight through. It passed several columns as it did. It smashed each and every one of these, causing rocks to fly at the group. Tocsin, Goldy and Thystian avoided these stony projectiles. Thystian counter attacked with an explosive arrow. The creature took the hit in stride. It lashed out its long tentacle, and Thystian was struck. He swung about attempting to regain control, and ducked a low-hanging stone, before recovering. Tocsin fired another plasma orb. The creature took the hit in stride. Deetria, still terrified, was struggling to free herself now, and discharged light energy. The creature grunted from the damage, but simply passed her to an unharmed tentacle as it fled the group still. They reentered a narrow tube tunnel, which curved down sharply, then swung to the right. The creature plucked a large rock from the ground as it moved. Tocsin, Thystian and Goldy kept pursuing at top speed. Tocsin fired another plasma orb. It failed to free Deetria. The creature suddenly threw the big rock at the group. Goldy was slammed by the rock and disappeared behind them in the darkness. Thystian looked back, then forward, an angered expression on his hidden face. The tunnel curved down and to the left sharply, and seemed to be spiraling downward. Tocsin fired multicolored flames at the squid. It failed to free Deetria. The squid lashed out at Thystian with its long tentacle, but Thystian repelled it with his hammer, then countered with a throw. The creature grabbed his mallet, then threw it back at him. Thystian caught it however. Tocsin fired another plasma orb. Yet again, it simply did not seem strong enough to harm the creature significantly. Loud crashing was heard as the creature barged through a number of columns, causing rocks to fly at the group. Thystian was struck on the head by one, and staggered, listing sharply to the left. He smashed into a wall and fell to the ground, bouncing and rolling violently, and soon disappeared in the darkness. Tocsin looked back, then forward. He roared at the creature, beside himself with rage. He converted to plasma ball form, and sped forward, slamming against the tentacle that was holding Deetria. The creature grunted, the tentacle twitching. Deetria squealed, and discharged light energy. Again, the squid simply passed her to another tentacle. She cried. Tocsin raged.

The path had straightened out, and soon, Tocsin could hear the falling of water. The squid then passed through another waterfall. Tocsin braced himself and blasted through it too, entering a very large, arena-like chamber. It was round in shape, with a huge pool in the center of the chamber, with dry ground circling it. It was almost bowl-shaped as a result. The squid, still trying to flee, barreled to the other side of the chamber, and began attempting to dig through the back wall. Tocsin was immediately upon it, and flew over it, before blasting it with all the flames he could muster. It roared, and pulled out of the wall, visible eyes narrowed. "Let her go..." Tocsin said, deadly tone.

The creature wildly lashed its tentacles at Tocsin, who swooped and swerved to avoid them. It swung a grappling tentacle, smashing Tocsin and throwing him back. He recovered midair however, and fired a trio of plasma orbs at the creature. They flew out, then swooped back in to explode around the creature. It grunted, before spewing ink at Tocsin. He shot straight up to avoid. The squid quickly moved to another area of the chamber, and splashed water at Tocsin. He took these hits, steaming, eyes still narrowed. The creature reached up and ripped spikes from the ceiling. Tocsin shot in and blazed the creature with flames. It took the hit, and smashed Tocsin with one of the spikes, launching him. It then threw the spikes, but Tocsin avoided. He inhaled deeply, and released a huge fireball that roared forth. It exploded on the beast, and it grunted. Deetria again released a discharge of light energy, but failed to free herself. Tocsin, absolutely unrelenting in his attacks, flew circles around the creature, blazing it with flames, before being smacked again and flying back.

Deetria could see the fury in his eyes. For just a moment, her fear left her, and she felt a serenity fueled by love. She suddenly released a powerful discharge of light, severely damaging the creature's tentacles. It roared, and flailed her about, making her squeal. Tocsin roared at the creature, before firing another fireball. It blazed forth, and struck the tentacle gripping Deetria. The tentacle was blown apart, and Deetria, freed, extremely quickly fled the beast. She swooped up to Tocsin, and gazed at him. He gazed back, before the two were alerted to the angry squid by its roar. They faced it, eyes narrowed.

Deetria and Tocsin now teamed up against the beast. Tocsin and Deetria spiraled around it, blasting it with their elements. It roared, lashing its tentacles at them, and struck Tocsin, knocking him away. He recovered midair, and charged forward again. Deetria used her Status Waves now on the creature, and it was violently electrocuted. It roared in rage, before smashing Deetria with its tentacles, sending her plunging into the water. She rose out a couple seconds afterwards, dripping, eyes narrowed. Tocsin's rage had filled her with confidence to keep fighting.

Tocsin fired another trio of plasma orbs, and they exploded over the creature. Yet it still took the hits, before grabbing more spikes from the ceiling. It threw two at Tocsin and three at Deetria. Deetria, focusing, phased to evade, while Tocsin simply swooped to dodge. Deetria released a powerful blast of light energy now, hitting the creature and injuring it. The creature had now had enough. It spread its tentacles wide, and charged toward Tocsin, beaked mouth within wide open to consume him. Tocsin, knowing exactly what to do, launched a plasma orb into its mouth. The orb flew in, and the creature shrieked. The orb then detonated, and the creature exploded violently, launching its parts in every direction.

~~08~~

Tocsin panted heavily. Deetria did too. They gravitated toward each other. Deetria, her mind settling, quickly began to display the fact she was visibly shaken by being captured by the creature. She rushed to Tocsin and clung to him. She started to cry and squeal. Tocsin, face firm, wrapped his wings, and tail, around her, their necks crossing. They almost took the form of a ball, glowing, hovering in the air. "So... terrifying..." Deetria whimpered amidst her tears.

Tocsin just closed his eyes, allowing Deetria to release all of her emotion at this time. Deetria shivered in the wraps of his body and wings, and cried a little more.

After a couple of minutes, Deetria was finally beginning to calm. Tocsin lifted his head to look at her, and she peered back. She moved her head suddenly, and brought her tiny mouth against his in a sudden, powerful kiss. She closed her eyes, and Tocsin's widened. After a second, he closed his eyes. They both generated a powerful glow that almost lit the entire chamber.

"My head..." Goldy grumbled, stumbling down the sloped tubing path.

He and Thystian had managed to find each other, and were traveling the passage on foot, though at first they flew until they stopped hearing the sounds of battle. They then noticed a glow emanating from the exit of the chamber. "What's that light..?" Goldy asked.

He and Thystian quickly approached the exiting passage, jumped through the waterfall, and peered out. There, they could see the two tiny dragons in a full embrace, and a full kiss. Goldy's eyes widened. He clasped his hands together beside his head. Thystian chuckled just a little. "Well, I'd say it's confirmed now. All it takes is a valiant rescue from an evil monster to cement a relationship."

"The damsel-in-distress routine. If it wasn't so overused, it'd be a classic," Goldy commented.

After at least a minute, Deetria ended her kiss, and gazed at the overwhelmed Tocsin. He gazed back, and their glows faded just a bit. "Thank you Tocsin..." Deetria whispered.

Tocsin was quiet. The two flinched when they heard Thystian call, "Hey lovebirds! Glad to see you're alive!"

They slowly looked at Thystian and Goldy, the latter of which was waving enthusiastically, and running toward them, before crashing down into the unseen pool in front of him. Tocsin and Deetria looked at each other again, very clearly embarrassed, and they slowly left their embrace, before drifting to the others. Goldy splashed and sputtered, then calmed down, remembering he could swim, and moved back to the edge of the pool.

They drifted up to Thystian, whose head was just slightly tilted, arms akimbo. "You two make a beautiful sight," he commented.

Tocsin mumbled, while Deetria emitted an embarrassed squeal. Goldy climbed out of the water, and shook himself off, before walking over. "I wish I'd gotten to see how you managed to kill that thing!" he exclaimed.

"Well... Get me mad enough, and I can be as tough as Enigma..." Tocsin commented.

"Considering it was his flames that created you, I wouldn't be surprised," Goldy noted.

He took this opportunity to use his Purity Rings and heal Tocsin and Deetria, who had bumps, bruises and scratches all over their persons. Then, after a minute of awkward silence, Thystian spoke, "I am glad to see you're ok. If you're ready, we can continue. I'm sure we all want to get out of this place as fast as possible."

"Yes, please," Deetria replied.

Thystian took a minute to assess the location, then began to walk around the rim of the huge pool, to the back. The group followed.

~~09~~

At the other end, Thystian looked for an exit. Yet there was none. Goldy however, was examining the massive gouge in the wall that the Vulgaris Tentacles had dug in an attempt to escape. He could see massive cracks in the wall, and upon getting closer, he peeked through one. "Hey, I think I can see through this! I feel wind and hear noises too!" he exclaimed.

Thystian, noticing it too now, walked over and into the gouge. Deetria and Tocsin quietly followed, close to each other. Thystian stepped up to the severely damaged wall, and stood still for a moment. "Mm-hmm. My scans tell me there's a passage ahead, and an item is being detected nearby. We may finally be near the end of this wretched cave," he said.

He took out his mallet, and struck the damaged wall. With a stony crash, the wall was blasted out and into another corridor. Thystian, with a gesture to follow, headed through the gap, into the passage ahead. It went from left to right, and Thystian's detections told him it was to the right they needed to go. Thus, they did.

This tunnel was different from the caves. It almost appeared to be part of a structure. It was level, with a smooth floor, walls and ceiling, and headed straight, darkness shrouding the passage ahead. "I'd say we've gone from cave to dungeon..." Goldy remarked.

Thystian replied, "Beware of any additional traps..."

Everyone nodded their heads, though Tocsin and Deetria remained quiet for now.

Soon, the tunnel clearly had converted into a refined, stone hallway. They began to notice dimly lit, circular plates scattered about, mounted to the floor, walls and ceiling. They progressed onward, Thystian examining the plates. "...Again, something I can't scan. That is never a good sign..." Thystian noted.

"Clearly... another trap..." Tocsin said, a low tone.

"I don't see how," Goldy replied, looking at his warped reflection in one of the plates on the wall.

He started checking his teeth, the reflection making things look bigger in the center, and giving him a good, stretchy view of himself. He yelped at seeing the others moving on, and followed. The dim light being emitted from these plates made seeing in this chamber much easier, and Thystian dimmed his suit's brights.

Some distance back, near where the group had entered, a huge, eight-legged, furry object slowly stepped by the entrance.

"Man, this corridor just keeps going..." Goldy mumbled.

Bored, he started playing hopscotch with the plates, hopping with one foot on one to another. The large creature continued to follow the group silently, from a safe distance. Deetria, looking around at the plates, noticed the Huge Tarantula's reflection in one of the ceiling plates. She looked back, and squealed in fear. The rest looked back too, and the Huge Tarantula raised up on its back four legs, its front four spread out, showing its underside and large fangs. It snarled at the group.

Goldy scrambled past the group, and they watched him. They decided to flee too, and the spider pursued.

During the flight, one of Thystian's footfalls landed on a strange grey plate, which sank into the floor quickly and produced a click. He stopped, looking back and at the floor, and the sound of a rushing energy could be heard. All of the hundreds of plates in the corridor suddenly lit up bright, and hummed steadily. Everyone, including the Huge Tarantula, came to a stop, looking around.

Then came the sounds of cannon fire. The group looked ahead to the end of the corridor, and could see that, being fired from the plates, were white orbs of spectral energy. The orbs rushed from one plate to its corresponding plate on the opposite side, either horizontally across the corridor, or vertically from floor to ceiling or visa versa. The group could see that the plates on the opposite end of the corridor back behind them were doing the same, and that the firing seemed to be flowing toward the center where the switch was. The farthest plates began firing first, continually, and inner-reaching plates began to fire. "Deathtrap indeed!" Goldy exclaimed, rushing to the center and cowering.

Tocsin and Deetria frantically searched for a point that they could place themselves at so that they would be in a gap within the shots before they began, but every position they took, they could see plates either beside or above and below them. Deetria whimpered. Thystian himself facepalmed, fist clutched. "I CAN'T believe I just triggered this!" he yelled.

The Huge Tarantula turned around, seeing that the plates here firing. It shrieked in panic, and turned to run to the center, but the plates around it quickly began to fire, and the orbs ripped through the beast, disintegrating the sections of body they came into contact with, destroying the gigantic arachnid.

"What do we do?! What do we do?!" Goldy yelled, running in circles.

Suddenly a shattering smash was heard, and they looked at Thystian. Using his mallet, he had destroyed one of the plates. He nodded to himself, then exclaimed, "Break the plates! Destroy them!"

Rushing to a wall, Goldy began to punch plates as hard as he could. His strikes shattered them seemingly easily. Deetria immediately began to blast plates on the ceiling with her light shots, and they were shattered. Tocsin fired plasma orbs at the plates on the wall on the opposite side of Goldy's, and they were destroyed too, while Thystian shattered more plates on the floor with his mallet.

Just in time to save themselves, the group destroyed all of the plates around them before they had a chance to fire. The plates that they had destroyed began to spark slightly when it was their time to fire.

The group stopped for a minute to catch their breath, and watched as the plates down both ends of the corridor continued to fire constantly. Goldy sighed, and sat down for a minute. Deetria hung in the air close to Tocsin, who was silent. Thystian set his mallet head down, and leaned on it. "Now what..?" Goldy asked.

Thystian was quiet.

~~10~~

"Almost got it..." Goldy muttered, digging his claws into the gap in the floor where the switch plate was.

Thystian, Tocsin and Deetria watched. "Still would have been easier if I had a screwdriver. If Bluey were here, he could probably just step on it again and switch it off like one of those switch pens... He has a weird way of manipulating devices that way..."

Thystian chuckled. Goldy finally managed to get his claws under the plate, and began to pull. With a few seconds of force, he ripped the plate out of the floor, and the group peered under it. There, in the floor, appeared to be an electronic device. "Hmm... That looks like some kind of power generation module..." Tocsin remarked.

"How do we shut it off?" Deetria inquired.

"Bluey-style," Goldy said with a smirk, looking at Thystian.

Thystian nodded, then raised his mallet and thrust the handle end of it into the space. The device cracked and sparked, then burst. All of the plates powered down, turning black and the chamber darkened completely once again. "Yay!" Deetria squealed in the darkness.

Thystian reactivated his suit's brights, and looked around. "Alright, we're almost there. I'll be so very glad to be out of this darkness..." he said, as he headed on down the tunnel.

~~11~~

Nearing the end of the passage, a dim, blue light could be seen coming into view. The group looked at each other as they neared the end of the corridor. They exited into a medium-sized chamber. Its walls were highly decorated with runes and plates with symbols on them. The source of light were blue plates on the walls, similar in design to the white plates of the passage again. "More cannons?" Goldy asked.

"Hmm... No, they're not the same type. I think they're just light sources," Thystian replied.

"Look!" Deetria squealed.

In the center of the chamber was a raised platform about a foot higher than the surrounding stone floor. And in the center of the platform, was a podium. And on this podium, was a mysterious crystal. "Well, there it is," Thystian said simply.

The group walked over to the Darklight Crystal, and looked it over. It was smooth, and ovular in shape, large, about the size of one of Goldy's eyes, as large as they were. It was black, yet somehow emitted a white glow, and there appeared to be a tiny source of light in the center of the crystal. "Pretty... There are so many pretty things in this galaxy..." Deetria cooed.

"Mysterious is what I'd describe it with," Tocsin stated.

"Both are fitting words. This crystal is imbued with both the elements of Light and Darkness. As a result, it also bears Anti-matter energies, contained within. Oddly, it also sports Sonic properties. Somehow the fusion of those two opposite elements grants it these special properties," Thystian explained.

Goldy inquired, "What sort of use does it provide?"

"Mostly a major energy source, though it also allows for interaction with particular systems that use any of the four elements it generates," Thystian said, reaching for the crystal.

Thystian took the crystal from the podium, and placed it in his inventory. He looked at his group, who looked back. "Yay!" Deetria exclaimed, "Third element acqui-"

The podium, with a grinding rumble, retracted into the ground, leaving a hole. The group watched it, nervous.

They yelped when the sound of a slamming gate was heard. They looked over, and could see that the doorway out had been blocked and sealed by a strange, curve-topped gate. This gate had three copies of a strange symbol on it, one near its top left, one near its middle right, and one near its bottom left.

The group's eyes shrank when they heard the sound of rushing water. They slowly looked around, seeing that the blue plates on the walls had lit up. They started to scream when water began to gush out of the plates, and also geyser out of the hole in the floor where the podium once rested over.

"YOU HAD TO TAKE IT!!!" Goldy shouted, running around blindly. He resumed screaming, "NOW WE'RE ALL GONNA DIIIEEE!!!"

The water level was very quickly beginning to rise, and Tocsin fired a plasma orb at one of the plates. The orb was repelled by the gushing water. Deetria too attempted to attack the plates, squealing in fear. The water deflected the beams of light she used. "I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIIIEEE!!!" Goldy screamed, running past the two.

Thystian strode over to the hole generating the geyser, and began to force his mallet down in an attempt to plug the hole. He was unable to hold back against the water force, and his mallet was thrust upwards, nearly causing him to fall over. "THERE'S SO MANY THINGS I HAVE YET TO EXPERIENCE!!!" Goldy screamed, running by behind Thystian.

With the water up to Thystian's knees, Tocsin and Deetria flew up to the ceiling of the chamber and stayed close to each other. They locked eyes. "...Guess we're gonna end up dying together after all..." Tocsin mumbled.

Deetria whimpered, and clung to Tocsin. "WHY DROWNING?! WHY COULDN'T I DIE GLORIOUSLY IN BATTLE LIKE MY ANCESTORS?!" Goldy screamed, running by below the two.

Thystian, in a futile attempt to smash the plates, swung his mallet and shot arrows at them. The sheer force of the pouring water was enough to repel any attack. "BLUUUEEEYYY!!!" Goldy screamed, before finally passing out and flopping over backwards into the water, where he began to float.

Thystian charged through the deepening water and smashed his mallet against the gate. With a strange noise, the gate resisted the strike, as well as two more after it. Thystian gave up, and looked around frantically. He noticed the symbol on the gate, then did a double-take, noticing that the symbols were also in three places on the walls. He stood for a moment, before taking out of his inventory his Darklight Crystal. He popped one of the jewels out of his hammer, and put the crystal in instead. The hammer vibrated slightly, taking on a darker hue, and started to hum.

Thystian smacked the gate with the hammer again. His hunch was correct. The gate's three symbols of the same kind proceeded to emit three bizarre tones, one middle, one high, one low. Thystian, sloshing through the now chest deep water, approached another symbol on a wall, and struck it. It emitted the low tone. Thystian struggled through the water to a different symbol and hit it. It emitted the high tone. Thystian, now knowing what was what, forced his way toward the third symbol.

Deetria and Tocsin watched, then started to cheer him on. Thystian pushed through the water, and struck the third symbol. The middle tone was heard. With the water neck deep, he moved back to the second symbol, and hit it. The high tone was heard. He then pushed to the first symbol, and hit it. The low tone was heard. The tones then echoed off the door, medium, high, low. The symbols on the walls then repeated the tones. The gate and wall symbols then echoed the tones all at once.

Thystian was now underwater, but just watched as lines of white energy began to grow across the walls, reaching from the door to the three symbols, and then meeting at the other end, forming a complete circle around the group.

Deetria squeaked in surprise when a horizontal film of white energy was released across the room, from all four walls. The film expanded into a huge block of white energy that filled the chamber, and blinded everyone.

When the light and energy cleared, Thystian, Goldy, Deetria and Tocsin had vanished.

The chamber very quickly filled up with water, and silence ensued.

END

Dragon Tails © Tim Dawson

Wenonah Galaxy © Adrian Smith


	8. 08: Land and Sky

Roseus Elementeus

Chapter Eight – Land & Sky

~~00~~

Darkness to light. Yet the purity remained the same, if not perhaps more so. The site of their appearance was a small spring chamber within a mountain peak.

At first all was silence, but for the trickling of water, and the sparkling sounds of purity energy. It was a rounded cave, lit by glowing runes on the ceiling. Emerging from several points on the walls in the back of the chamber were flows of pure water, turning the floor into a shallow pool. The runes emitted a softly glowing energy that gently descended to the water.

With a sudden flash of energy, Thystian, Goldy, Tocsin and Deetria appeared. Deetria squealed at first, seeing they were still in a cave, but then calmed when she felt a wave of purity wash over her. Tocsin and Thystian felt the same. With light splashes, Thystian and Goldy landed in the water below, Thystian landing seated, Goldy onto his belly. He was unmoving.

"...We're alive..." Tocsin said, quietly.

"This cave... It's different from the one we were in, and it's pretty. Look at all the glowing runes," Deetria remarked, peering up at them.

Thystian slowly got to his feet, and looked around the chamber. "It's a purity spring," he noted quietly, "I think I might know where we are..."

Deetria slowly drifted around the chamber, looking at the runes, and being distracted by the sparkles that drifted throughout the air. Thystian replaced the Darklight Crystal that was still attached to his mallet with the original jewel. The hammer reverted to its normal appearance, and Thystian stored the artifact. Tocsin watched Deetria drift.

Thystian stepped over through the water and poked Goldy with his foot. "...Is he dead?" Tocsin asked.

"Nope. Just scared himself unconscious..." Thystian replied.

Goldy suddenly awoke, screaming, "IT WASN'T ME ENIGMA, I SWEAR!!! ...Oh. Where? ...Oh yeah..."

He rolled over and sat up, holding his head. He groaned, and looked at the others. He noticed the chamber they were in, and got to his feet. "Whoa... It feels so... serene in here," he said.

At the end of the chamber was a passage out. Thystian looked that way, while Deetria drifted some. "Let's see where that takes us. If I'm correct, you all are in for a surprise," Thystian said.

Goldy and Tocsin nodded. Thystian stepped through the shallow water toward the passage. Deetria turned and followed, joining Tocsin and Goldy. She stayed close to Tocsin, as they moved onward.

The path curved somewhat sharply to the right, with a gentle downward slope. As a result, the water flowed through here, and the sounds of roaring water could be heard growing as they moved through. This passage had no plants, or stalactites. The water was solely on the ground.

The cave curved sharply to the left, and they could see light ahead, as the sounds of loud flowing water grew ever more so. They could feel a faint breeze. "Light! Glorious light!" Goldy exclaimed, as he charged forward.

He skidded to a stop at the end of the cave, and his jaw fell slack, eyes wide. "Oh... my... dragon..." he exclaimed.

Tocsin and Deetria rushed forward, and Thystian followed at his normal pace. Soon, everyone was standing at the exit, and could see the sight ahead. Stretching out before them, they could see that they were at the peak of a mountain. A very tall mountain, so high in the sky, it seemed above the cloud line. The water poured over the edge onto pure white, smooth rock as it crashed down into the distance below. It was some distance below that the treeline itself actually began, with large, beautiful trees that stretched for a great distance. The land kept going, the slope gradually smoothing out, until it was a steady, long forest. Soon after, the forest ended onto a long stretch of grassy plains. They could see that the water had kept flowing down through this vast stretch of land, forming a large river, which flowed to an edge. A great distance off, they could see that the land seemed to just end abruptly, and the water poured over the edge. They could make out some buildings in the great distance below as well. Deetria squealed in delight, seemingly knowing where they were. Tocsin looked at her. Thystian spoke, "My friends, welcome to Gravairna, the Sky Planet."

"Is it just me or does it look like the land just ENDS out there?" Goldy asked, visoring his eyes, squinting, peering out into the great distance.

"It does," Thystian stated, and Tocsin and Goldy looked at him in shock.

Thystian explained, "Gravairna is a gas planet, with a hard metal core. This core is shrouded in clouds, and emits a special magnetic energy. Floating above the clouds all around the planet, within its atmosphere, are islands ranging in size from islet size, to small continents. All of these islands have a metallic core known as Magnettometal. This metal reacts with the core's energy frequency, and keeps the islands aloft indefinitely, and all at a safe height."

"It's a homeworld for a lot of flying people!" Deetria added.

"Marvelous..." Tocsin uttered.

"I assume you want some of that Magnettometal?" Goldy asked.

"Specifically, Magnettosphere. In ball form, the stuff drifts in clusters in barren regions of sky at the same height as the islands. That stuff is extremely important in Anti-Gravity Components for star ships. We're just fortunate we ended up here," Thystian replied.

Goldy nodded, looking out, awed at the moment by the sight of the pristine island. "These teleportations sure seem to have a habit of throwing us back and forth between the pretty and the not-so-pretty and back again," Tocsin said.

He drifted out of the cave exit and looked around. There was a strong, cool breeze here, and when he looked up and back, he could see that they weren't far from the peak.

"Regional scans tell me that this is Mt. Sky Fountain, a major water source for this particular quadrant of the planet," Thystian stated.

Deetria followed Tocsin out, and bounced in excitement over the beauty of this island. Once again, she felt joyous, now having left the horrible gloom of their previous planet. Tocsin looked at her with a warm expression, as she cheered.

"I do have a question though..." Goldy asked, kneeling and looking at the crashing water below.

Thystian looked down as well at this point, and said, "Yeah... Getting down... I was just thinking about that."

Deetria flitted about in the air, then spontaneously, nuzzled Tocsin. She started flying circles around him. He watched her, then looked at Thystian.

"Water slide?" Goldy asked, with an eager expression.

"Water slide," Thystian replied, with a nod.

He looked at Tocsin and Deetria and said, "We're gonna slide down this river. We need you to be our spotters in case there are sheer drops, rocks and any other potential hazards."

"WHEEH!" Deetria exclaimed, swooping ahead to be at the ready.

"Sounds like a serious risk..." Tocsin cautioned.

"Well, Goldy's got a tough hide, and I'm wearing armor. I think we'll be alright, and it'd be nice to have a break from the deadliness we've been dealing with up to this point," Thystian said, taking a seat at the edge of the cave.

At first it was a very sharp drop, but soon it curved out slightly. Tocsin slowly nodded, and moved to be next to Deetria. "Ready?" she squealed.

Thystian and Goldy nodded. The two then shoved themselves out into the water, and with a wet crash, they landed in the raging flows and began to speed down.

~~01~~

The river along the rock face of the mountain had carved a very smooth and deep ditch with high walls. It swerved from left to right, and its steepness varied with the descent. Thystian slid along down the water on his back, arms crossed in front of his chest. Goldy slid on his belly, arms and legs fanned out, wings spread. He kept his mouth shut though, or else he'd end up swallowing a lot of water.

Ahead, Tocsin and Deetria sped down the river, keeping to the air. Goldy kept his eyes on Tocsin, while Thystian locked on the pinkness of Deetria. Deetria squealed with delight, watching the river as it curved sharply to the left. The water itself splashed up on the curving walls of the slide, and Thystian swooped up the side slightly before heading down. Goldy spun slightly and started moving backwards. He yelped.

The slide became steeper, the water raging and splashing, and Tocsin noticed ahead a rock spike in the middle of the river. He swooped around it, and Goldy, struggling to rotate, saw the rock coming. Thystian zoomed past on its right side, while Goldy swam frantically in the water to avoid hitting it, passing its left side.

Deetria squealed, seeing that the river forked ahead, and the water was dumped over a fall in the right path. She swerved to head over the left path, and Thystian observed. He rolled himself onto his front and back again quickly to shift closer to the left side, nearly pressing Goldy against the slide's raised edge. The two swooped down into the left path away from the fall.

A lone, perhaps rebellious and determined tree grew in the middle of the slide ahead. Tocsin yelled at the sight, and swung around it as they passed. Goldy, also seeing it, yelped and swam against the flow slightly, trying to give himself enough time to avoid. Soon they passed the tree, Thystian scraping against it along the way.

The steepness eased a bit, and ahead Tocsin and Deetria could see that the river split, but neither path seemed to dump into a waterfall. They looked at each other, and nodded. Deetria shot off to the right path, and Tocsin to the left. Oddly, Thystian and Goldy ended up reversed. Thystian changed his sights to Tocsin, while Goldy struggled to keep front first and watched Deetria.

Three rocks lay ahead in the river as it curved sharply in Thystian's path of the slide. Readying himself for some serious steering, he swooped left, then right, then left between the rocks, scraping slightly against the last one as he zoomed by. The slide suddenly smoothed straight, then bent sharply down, and Thystian became airborne just slightly before landing back in the slide and zooming.

On Goldy's path, he could see that ahead the water, splashing about into the air, seemed very rough. He noticed that there were rocks submerged in the water, and cringed at the thought of slamming against them. Mostly unable to avoid however, he hit the first one, and was caught off guard by the stone's smoothness. He bounced into the air with a yelp, and landed on his seat, sliding sitting upright. He hit a second rock, and bounced onto his back. He flailed. He hit a third rock, and was flipped back onto his belly, before screaming at the sight of a waterfall ahead. He watched Deetria dive down the fall, then flew off the edge. To his relief, it was a small drop, and he landed in a large pool, the flow of which directed him over the edge of another fall, and into a very steep slide. Deetria giggled as she kept to the air ahead of him in the slide. He fell in, and zoomed down at high speed.

Ahead, both Tocsin and Deetria could see each other over the raised walls of the two slides. Deetria squealed in delight, and soon the two paths converged back into one. Goldy and Thystian ran into each other and slid away a bit in the water before stabilizing. "Here's another thing I'm gonna have to have to ask Enigma for when I get home!" Goldy shouted over the water.

"A water slide?! Do you even have a mountain big enough to build it on?!" Thystian yelled back.

"We'll find one!" Goldy shouted.

It seemed as though the mountain was now at least a quarter cleared, and they had now passed the treeline. Soon, the sky around them had vanished in place of the trees. Immediately the sounds of many birds joined the ambience of the water.

And ahead, Tocsin and Deetria spotted two figures in the water slide. Apparently, there were other people using this river for this purpose. The slide had since straightened out, into a reasonable tilt, and Thystian and Goldy could see the end of the slide some distance down and ahead. The two figures in the water were moving slower than Thystian and Goldy, and soon, they were upon the two figures. Goldy passed by on their right, Thystian on their left, and they looked at the two. Goldy was surprised to see that they appeared to be humanoid rabbit beings wearing bathing suits. One was male and the other female. He didn't have enough time to take in the details of their appearance before passing. The two rabbit beings looked surprised at the sight of the four passing them. They looked at Thystian, who waved to them on passing. They returned the wave, smiling, and continued down the trail behind the four now.

Nearing the end, Tocsin shouted, "Here comes the big drop!"

Deetria squealed in delight, and the loud roaring of water, mixed with bird calls, grew quickly. Tocsin and Deetria swooped out over the edge, and stopped, looking back, to see that the water dumped down into a huge pool some distance below, deep within the forest. Deetria joyously squealed, and flew down toward the pool. Tocsin followed. And with a scream, either in excitement or terror, Goldy flew over the edge. Thystian slipped off afterwards and fell like a rock straight for the water, holding himself as straight and narrow as he could. Goldy, however, flailed, and with two huge splashes, the two landed in the pool below. The two rabbit beings followed afterwards with cheers.

~~02~~

Thystian landed and sank deeper than Goldy. Goldy struggled for a minute, before swimming to the surface. With a gasp, he started floating, and raised his arms with a cheer. He swam for the edge of the huge pool.

Thystian reached the pool's floor, and looked around. No fish of any sort to be seen. This did not surprise him however, and he moved to surface, and swam to the edge.

Deetria dove into the water and started splashing about, squealing. Tocsin came to near the water, and watched, pleased. He observed as the rabbit beings landed as well, and after a moment, surfaced, and began to swim to the shore, talking excitedly to each other.

Once at shore, Goldy climbed out of the water, and took in the sights of this area. Surrounding them on all sides were tall trees. The land seemed built up here to support the pool, though there was a cleft in the raised land to allow the water to flow out, forming a calmly flowing river that reached into the forest. The land was a soft dirt along the bank of the pool and river, with an occasional reed, then converted to a lush, fine, green grass, before the brush of the forest began. He looked back at the pool and could now see just how far they had traveled. The cliff face, sporting an overhang of rock over the pool, towered over them, and the mountain behind it was almost invisible against the sky from its sheer height.

There, in the water, Deetria splashed, much the way she did with the ocean on Coll. Squealing and giggling, she flew about in and out of the water. She popped up and peeked out at Tocsin, giggling, and exclaimed, "I love freshwater! It's so much smoother to swim in than salt water!"

Tocsin replied, "I could imagine so."

Deetria swooped up and nuzzled him warmly. She gazed at him, and said, "We're safe again. It feels so good being away from the danger, and once again in a beautiful place!"

"I couldn't agree more. Especially after that squid incident..." Tocsin remarked.

Deetria feel quiet, her face a bit pinker, and she stroked the side of her face against his, before squealing, flying circles around him, and diving back into the water.

Thystian had since reached the shore, and exclaimed, "I haven't had that much fun since I went on that joyride with a Space Bike through the Equinox Asteroid Belt!"

Goldy walked over and commented, "That was AWESOME. I'd ask if we could do it again if it wasn't for the fact we'd have to climb the whole mountain."

"Yeah. I don't think it'd be worth it," Thystian said.

"Hey there!" a male voice called out, and the two looked, to see the two rabbit beings approach. Now, Goldy could take in a good look at them.

The male was at least five feet seven inches. His female companion was likely five feet even. Their bodies were highly humanoid. They had long rabbit ears, both of which stood upright, emerging from the top sides of the head. Their ears rose amidst hair, which was short and very light brown on the male, straight, and currently messy from the water. The female had long hair of a similar shade, reaching to her shoulderblades. Their eyes appeared be slightly larger than a human's, and they had rabbit noses. Their mouths were humanoid, and the male had large incisors, essentially buck teeth. A small puffball-like tail could be seen above their rear ends, also above their bathing suit pieces. The female's was larger than her companion's. Their arms were humanoid, while their legs possessed a second pair of knees a short distance from the first with a third pair of leg muscles. Their feet were also humanoid. Their bodies were fully covered in a soft, velvety, tan-shaded fur, but for on the face of the female. The male wore a pair of light blue swimming trunks, while the female had a skimpy two-piece bikini of the same shade. Goldy noticed they were holding hands, and came to the conclusion they were mates.

"Where'd you all come from?" the male exclaimed, still surprised to see Thystian's group emerge from no where.

"Peak of the mountain. We're passing through, heading down to the island edge," Thystian replied.

"Oh wow. How'd you get way up there?" the female chimed with just a hint of ditziness in her voice.

"We were sort of warped up there while escaping a trap on another planet," Goldy replied.

"Oh wow... Warping. That makes me dizzy," the girl said with a giggle.

"So you're heading for the edge of the island? You should follow the river's path. It cuts through the forest," the male stated.

"Thanks for the info. We'll do just that. Tocsin! Deetria! This way please!" Thystian said.

Tocsin looked over, and Deetria peeked up. She giggled, and started swimming through the water toward the mouth of the river. Tocsin stayed with her. Thystian waved to the couple, as did Goldy, and they waved back, before turning and surprising Goldy with incredible leaps into the water, where they splashed down and started playing.

"Rabbit people?" he asked Thystian, as they headed toward the river's bank.

"Kanineans. Timid rabbit people. Those two must be vacationing here, because they're not native to this planet," Thystian replied.

"Ahhh..."

~~03~~

Having entered the forest trail that followed the river, Thystian's group walked along through this beautiful forest region. Deetria, happy once again, splashed about in the river before flying around in the air over it, and zipping off into a bush. Tocsin stayed mostly on course, and watched as Deetria peeked out, a leaf on her face. She shook it off, giggled, and flew toward Tocsin.

He yelped as she glomped him and the two flew off in the other direction and into a different bush. Goldy and Thystian got a laugh out of this.

The ground steadily sloped downward. Goldy could see that they were apparently only halfway down the mountain, and the group marched along, passing many trees, flowering plants and bushes. He saw peeking out of them a normal rabbit creature. It disappeared the instant they drew near.

Deetria sped out from the brush, Tocsin pursuing her, and she giggled as she flew about the scenic trail. Thystian and Goldy themselves were entertained by this sight as the two chased each other in this manner. "I can't think of anything cuter... Not even Moppy," Goldy remarked.

Thystian chuckled with a nod.

And after at least what felt like an hour to Goldy, the group had descended the winding path, yet more lay ahead. They entered a larger clearing, with a few stumps and rocks. "Looks like a good break point," he said.

Thystian acknowledged, and walked over to a stump to take a seat. He began to run a diagnostic on his suit once again, while Goldy walked over and sat on a rock. Deetria zipped by, while Tocsin settled in the air next to Goldy. They looked at each other, and Goldy said, "This adventure is turning out so great. Maybe Bluey's machine accident wasn't so bad for us after all."

"I am... definitely inclined to agree..." Tocsin replied, watching as Deetria frolicked amongst a flowering bush, then swooped up into the trees above, squealing.

Goldy chuckled a little, and Tocsin glared at him. "Stop laughing..." he said, annoyed.

"It's just so cute. I still remember you saying you didn't think you had the capacity for love. Man, that seems like days ago..." Goldy replied.

Tocsin sighed, and drifted away from Goldy to a more secluded spot in the small clearing. He settled on a stump, fanned his wings out, then folded them. He sat there, watching the group rest. He looked at Thystian, who was holding his hand out, palm up, and a hologram of apparently planet Gravairna hovered over it. He seemed to be calibrating their position. Tocsin looked at Goldy, who had found a stick and was scratching a drawing of the Kanineans he'd just seen. Tocsin looked at Deetria as she squealed at a bird, which squawked back, the two seemingly conversing, though he doubted that either understood what the other was saying. He looked at the river, as it flowed casually past, the sounds of water flowing, a gentle breeze and bird and insect calls filled the air.

Then he heard something else. "Tocsin..." a voice echoed. He looked around, and said, "Did one of you guys call my name?"

Goldy looked at Tocsin, and shook his head. "No," Thystian replied. Deetria was too busy following butterflies.

Tocsin narrowed an eye, and resumed relaxing.

"...Tocsin..." the voice echoed from the forest. Tocsin looked around again, and muttered, "I must be going crazy at last... I was wondering when it would start to set in."

He remained where he was, until after a few seconds, he heard the call once more. Unnerved slightly at the fact no one else seemed to notice, Tocsin decided he needed to investigate. He rose into the air, and drifted off into the brush to search for the source, which continued to call his name every few seconds.

He passed a tree, a strange, wiry bush with curious flowers, and flew under a large hanging swath of vines. He drifted slowly over the ground, which was covered in dead leaves, looking around for the source of the calls. Soon, however, he could see a faint glow of light from past a pair of bushes in a slightly darker section of forest. The calls seemed to echo from there. Tocsin, eyes narrowed, drifted toward the glow. Upon passing the bushes, he could see that there was a glowing hole, a ground portal, resting in the ground below a collapsed and rotted tree. Tocsin drew closer to the glow, and one last time heard the voice whisper, "Come... Tocsin..." It had definitely echoed from the ground portal.

"Fine," he said, as he squeezed under the fallen tree, and descended into the portal.

~~04~~

Tocsin descended the white column of light into the center of the underground chamber. He was reminded of the one seen back on Coll. This one however, while still round with smooth walls, had stone of white, and the ground was covered in a fine layer of dead leaves with tiny shoots of grass peeking up. A huge bush engulfed most of the left wall.

Tocsin looked around, and saw that there was a passage off to the right, though its ceiling was as high as the chamber he was in. Tocsin began to glide toward this passage, which snaked forward. As he traveled, he spotted a cave entrance higher up on the right wall. He glided up to look, and saw that it was just a large nook in the wall, with, oddly, a couple of clay jars sitting on the ground amongst grass, leaves, and a bush. He drifted onward through the snaking path, and passed a pair of light orb torches.

The ceiling was sloped lower as he neared the end. He could see a strange glow emanating from the area ahead. Shortly, he reached the end of the corridor, and found himself entering a large, square chamber with a solid black, voidlike ceiling. On the left wall, were what appeared to be a trio of small, arch-shaped gateways, though they seemed to lead to nothing but blackness. They had small platforms of stone in front of them, with large square notches in the center. On the right wall, three more of these exact same gateways could be seen. At the back of the chamber, was a platform raised several feet into the air, with a set of steps ascending it. At the top, Tocsin saw a woman, seated on what looked like a plain throne. The woman, was a PhilaPhila, as she had butterfly features. Her colors were different however, from the one Thystian & Goldy encountered. While the last wore blue/white colors, this one had red/white colors.

Tocsin drifted forward, and stopped when the woman, smiling, stood up. She drifted down the stairs and toward Tocsin. He felt a sense of peace, and did not react with fear or aggression to her approach. "Hello, little one," she said softly as she approached.

She gently touched a finger to his chin, and continued, "I am Manina'Soondeya, a forest PhilaPhila. I have been resting here for a long time, searching for great sources of love on this world. And you, little white dragon, glow with it. I could sense that you have a companion that soon will be your ultimate love. I feel that the bond between two you shines like the stars of the galaxy."

"...Yes... You may be right," Tocsin replied quietly.

Manina withdrew her hand, and said softly, "Your love brings joy to my heart. I drew you here, because I wish to give you something, that will allow you to solidify your bond with your significant other, permanently. You must be tested in order to qualify, however."

"A test, eh?" Tocsin responded quietly, "What sort of test?"

"A test of observation," she replied.

Tocsin arched an eye ridge, and Manina held forward her hands together, palms up, and a large ring of chromatic energy formed. The ring moved forward and hovered around Tocsin's neck, decreasing in size so that there was only an inch of space between it an his neck. She spoke, "You have seen many creatures in your travels. Now, you will be tested to see if you can remember where you saw them. Six statues of creatures will appear, and within the six gateways, you will see images of the lands you have previously visited. Within the time limit that I will present, you will need to match the statue of the creature with the land in which it was found. Move the statues with your mind, using the special ring you now wear. If you cannot succeed, I will still grant you something, but it will not be as good as what I have to offer. I test you this way, in order to see how dedicated you are to your companion. As this test progresses, focus on your love for her, and you will succeed."

Tocsin thought for a moment, then slowly nodded. "I accept this test," he replied.

With the chance to give Deetria another gift, Tocsin felt strongly inclined to accept. He thought about what Goldy had said, and he had come to realize it was very likely indeed, that he was in love with Deetria.

Manina smiled warmly, and touched the ring. It began to glow gold, and she turned, drifting back up to her seat. She faced Tocsin, slowly sitting down, and smiled at him. "Do you wish for a moment to focus?" she asked.

"I'm ready," he replied simply.

"I am glad. Let the test begin," she responded.

She gestured forward with a hand, and six puffs of green smoke erupted before Tocsin, between him and Manina. He looked at them quickly, and could see six statues of creatures that were familiar to him. They were solid green, jade in appearance, and in somewhat poor condition. In the order of left to right, he looked at the statues. A giant mechanical termite, head tilted slightly, energy pincers ready to snap. Beside it, a small slug with a maw, rearing up. Beside it, a very large moray eel, spiraling up from the statue base, mouth agape. Beside it, a small, fluffy dog with a raised tail, in a romping pose. Beside it, a strange flower, rising from the base in an erratic manner, the head of which sported sharp teeth. Lastly, a humongous scorpion, one pincer raised, stinger curled forward over it.

Tocsin watched as Manina waved the same hand to the side gently, and he heard a rush of energy. Looking to his left and right, he could see that the gateways were now displaying holographic images of backgrounds from familiar locations. On the left wall, from left to right, he saw the scenes. The left gateway: a large computer terminal section of Level 3 Branch Chamber One. The middle gateway: a section of the corridor and the Sperciite Crystal, with the foot of a dead Insectid visible. The right gateway: a section of the passage of the Beach Grotto, a pool visible on the floor with a root going down into it.

On the other side, the three gateways, from left to right, displayed more locations. The left gateway: The very tops of the grass of the meadow, looking out into the distance to see a forest incredibly far away. The middle gateway: The top half of a dark-green-grassed hill, with Storm Pinnacle peeking out over the top, and a bolt of lighting in the sky. The right gateway: A section of the Vulgaris Tentacles' chamber, with some of the water, some of the fringe walkway, and some of the gouge in the wall dug by the beast.

Tocsin slowly looked around at these, feeling that they were all familiar, yet because of the vast amount of time it had been, his memory of them was no longer crystal clear. He narrowed his eyes slightly, and looked back at Manina as she moved again. She had moved her hand to hold it out, palm up. An orb of light appeared above her hand, and the number sixty appeared in it.

"Are you ready?" she asked gently.

"I am ready," he replied.

"Begin," she said.

The number slowly began to descend. Tocsin quickly began to look at the statues and the scenes. He looked at the Muridon Eel, and his memories of nearly being eaten by one quickly reminded him of where he'd seen it. He projected his thoughts at the statue, and lifted it up, moving it across the air and into the slot of the right gateway on the left wall, Pollyanna Beach. The statue settled into its slot. It became engulfed in a mystical light with white and gold sparkles. The statue's base turned gold while the statue itself gained its natural colors and became polished in appearance. A pleasing chime was heard. Tocsin nodded, while Manina smiled. This had taken him three seconds, bringing him to fifty-seven.

Tocsin gazed back upon the statues and looked back and fourth between them and the lands. His attention drew toward the Omega Scorpion. He remembered watching Thystian kick the heck out of the thing, then wrestle with it for his mallet. Things became a blur after that. However, he recognized the Vulgaris' Tentacles location, and knew that was the Pit of Voids. He projected his thoughts, and moved the statue into the slot in front of the backdrop. The statue was transformed into its pure state, followed by the chime. Tocsin nodded again, and Manina smiled once more. This had taken him six seconds, bringing him down to fifty-one.

Tocsin resumed examining the statues. He looked upon the Termite Drone, and thought for a few seconds. It had been quite some time since they were on Mara Seven, and his memory was dangerously hazy. He projected his thoughts, and moved the statue into the slot of the Sperciite Crystal scene. A dark, angry tone was heard as soon as the statue landed in its slot. Tocsin's ring shut off, and the statue slowly rose into the air, before drifting slowly back to its original space in the field. The clock kept counting down during this. Tocsin grunted in anger, and Manina looked a little sad. This had consumed fifteen seconds, leaving him with thirty-six. His ring reactivated.

Panicking slightly, Tocsin projected his thoughts at the Parasite Slug, which he clearly remembered blazing flames at, but the fear of the creatures clouded his memory of where exactly. He landed the statue in the Storm Pinnacle scene. The same, angry tone played, Tocsin's ring died again, and the statue slowly moved back into place. He lost thirteen seconds from this, leaving him with twenty. His ring revitalized, but he was growing frustrated quickly, seeing the time so low already. Manina spoke, soothingly, "Tocsin... Calm your mind... Think of your sweetheart. Her image will calm you. Think calmly, clearly."

Tocsin closed his eyes, thinking of the frolicking and flitting Deetria. He imagined the number of times she had nuzzled him, and the kiss they shared after he rescued her. His adrenaline eased, and he resumed, having used a few seconds to calm himself.

Looking back upon the Termite Drone, he now recognized the Computer Terminal scene as the Barracks, and quickly placed the statue in its slot. The pleasing chime was heard, the statue cleared into its pure state. This had taken Tocsin six seconds, leaving him with fourteen.

With a nod, Tocsin remembered now that he and Goldy teamed up to drive back the Parasite Slugs in the Insectid Science Facility. He placed the statue in this slot, and it was purified. The chime was heard. Manina smiled warmly, as Tocsin now nearly had it. He used four seconds, leaving him with ten.

Tocsin looked at the statue of Curlie Sue, and remembered Deetria giggle as she watched the playful and happy animal romp about in Silviprim Meadow. He moved the statue into its slot, and the statue was accepted with a chime and, oddly, the dog's happy barking sound, as it was converted to pure form. This left Tocsin with five seconds.

With the clock almost drained, Tocsin had only one statue left, and it was obvious where it went. He moved the Moor Trap Flower into the Shadow Moors slot, and it was accepted with a chime. He looked at the clock, and nearly fainted at the sight that it had taken him four seconds, leaving him with one.

Manina's smile couldn't be warmer. The telekinesis ring around Tocsin's neck faded away, as the lovely butterfly woman drifted down the steps and glided over to him. She held out a hand, touching his head gently, and spoke, "Congratulations little one. You have succeeded. Remember, your love will always bring you through any challenge you meet. Cherish your relationship with your sweetheart: Deetria."

Tocsin was silent, pleased with his success. He observed as she held out her hands, together, palms up, and a powerful glow formed. It solidified, into a rose. But this rose was clearly not ordinary. Its stem and two leaves were solid black, and possessed white sparkles that made it look like a tiny piece of outer space itself. The flower itself was a powerful, glorious white, and glowed with Holy energy. Tocsin could feel it radiating its pure energy out, washing over him. Manina said quietly, "Tocsin, take this, the Rose of Seven Stars. Give it to Deetria. Never forsake your bond with her. Never forsake love."

The rose moved toward Tocsin, and began to slowly orbit around him. Manina slowly lowered her hands, and touched his head gently once more. She backed away, and said, "Farewell, little Tocsin."

Tocsin flinched as the PhilaPhila suddenly burst into a huge flock of butterflies. The flock split into six groups, passing through the gateways of the six regions. The gateways faded, leaving the shimmering statues in their place. The remainder of the chamber went dark.

Tocsin floated there for a few seconds, and watched as the Rose of Seven Stars passed by in front of him, orbiting him slowly. He looked back out at the statues once more, before turning and flying back through the tunnel. Slowly, he picked up speed, growing eager to give this magnificent item to Deetria.

He quickly reached the exit of this underground chamber, and entered the column of light, going back up to the forest above.

~~05~~

Upon returning to the surface, Tocsin could once again hear the sounds of nature around him. But joined in the sounds were the voices of his team, calling for him. He could especially hear Deetria, who sounded upset.

Tocsin swooped out from under the dead tree, and flew back through the forest toward the clearing by the river.

"Tocsin?! Toc– ...I see a light!" Goldy shouted, pointing to the forest.

Everyone looked, and became elated when Tocsin emerged suddenly, the rose still orbiting him.

"Oh thank goodness! I was worried something had captured YOU now. ... ... ...Whoa..." Goldy said, eyes now locked on the rose.

"Where did you go... And that... Wow..." Thystian said, falling silent as he scanned the flower.

Deetria swooped up in front of Tocsin and squealed, "Tocsin! I was so scared you'd been carried off! I... ...I... Ohhh..."

Her eyes began to shimmer at the sight of the flower.

Thystian spoke, "Wow... That's..."

But before he could continue, Tocsin interrupted, "Deetria... This, is for you."

Deetria's eyes widened and shined, and she said with growing intensity, "For... for me?! This is so beautiful... It's so BEAUTIFUL!"

She reached forward with her head, and suddenly kissed Tocsin on the side of his face. Caught off guard, his eyes widened again. The Rose shifted to orbit to around Deetria. She looked at it, and wrapped her tail around its stem.

The rose and Deetria suddenly began to glow brightly. She reacted with an "Oh?". Tocsin backed away slightly. "Here we go again!" Goldy yelled.

Deetria began to coo hypnotically, as the rose began to orbit her rapidly, its petals breaking lose and taking a spherical formation around her. She tilted forward as this happened, her tail rising into the air, and the petals, rapidly, one by one, entered her body, the stem slowly merging with her from above. The latter half of her tail, from tip to midway, began to glow a powerful white, its appearance changing. It seemed to flatten, and develop a fuzziness. Deetria squealed as she glowed an intense and powerful light. Tocsin gazed into this light this time, and became overwhelmed with emotion for her. Goldy covered his eyes; Thystian observed through the shielded vision of his helmet.

There was a final flash, and a squeal from Deetria. The surge of energy began to fade, and the light slowly cleared away. Tocsin had gazed into this light the entire time, and the result was that he was stunned, overwhelmed with love. Goldy slowly looked out, and joined the others in amazement at the new change.

Deetria's tail, from about mid way, had been transformed into a shining, long, thin, flexible, gloriously white feather. Deetria slowly opened her eyes, and gazed at Tocsin. She said quietly, "Tocsin... You are so wonderful... Thank you for yet another beautiful gift... Thanks to you, I now have Holy powers too. My Light powers are now much greater also. Thank you, so much."

She drifted up to Tocsin, faces nearly touching, and she pressed her face gently against his, their eyes locked.

"WHOO-HOO!!" Goldy exclaimed.

"Excellent... Now we have two healers... This is a grand occasion," Thystian said, arms crossed, nodding in approval.

Deetria pulled back slightly and looked at her tail. She gazed upon its shining energy, and cooed contentedly. "It's so beautiful..." she said, as she looked at Tocsin and asked, "Do you think so?"

Tocsin, looking at her tail, then at her, replied, "And here I thought you couldn't possibly get anymore beautiful. It is glorious, Deetria."

Deetria gently brought her tail up, and tickled Tocsin's chin with it. The result was a purr from Tocsin that just about rendered Thystian collapsed and curled up with laughter.

Tocsin and Deetria ignored it for now, gazing into each other's eyes for a few more minutes.

Goldy sighed contentedly, watching. His thoughts began to stray to something that left him worried. He showed no signs of this however.

Thystian soon recovered, and sighed. "This just keeps getting better and better. We all ready to move on?" he asked.

Tocsin and Deetria looked at Thystian, and nodded. Goldy too nodded.

The group slowly began to head onward, down the trail beside the river.

Following the river, they kept quiet for now, Deetria staying close to Tocsin, producing a light as active as his now, and Goldy watched the river flow. Soon, they could see what looked like the end to the forest ahead. The land had since flattened out, as they had at last reached the bottom of the mountain.

~~06~~

The sounds of the birds were behind them now, though the sounds of insects could still be heard all around. The group peered out of the forest, to the large plains region that lay ahead, completely flat, with an almost lawn-like field of grass, short in height. The river continued to flow, widening slightly, as it headed toward the edge of the land. The group walked out into this open area, and Thystian said, "The grassy baseland. We're at land's end for this island, my friends."

The group marched out into the open field, and Goldy looked around, and up. No clouds above, just solid orange. There was a pleasant evening breeze. Goldy looked out, and could see that the star of this system was beginning to set on the horizon slowly. He was surprised at the fact that they had taken that much time to travel.

As they moved, Deetria giggled, seeing a flock of butterflies flutter by the group, heading for a patch of flowers. She moved to follow the insects, while Tocsin observed. He wondered now, about the butterflies. He remembered Manina disappear as a flock of them. "I wonder if..." he whispered, trailing off.

Thystian, looking ahead, could see a building some distance off. He, and Goldy, moved across this plains region, approaching the edge of the land. Tocsin began to follow, watching as Deetria drew the attention of the butterflies with her new feather tail. She giggled as they flitted about, and she landed on a flower to rest. She watched Thystian, Goldy and Tocsin go by ahead of her, following the river, and squeaked. She moved up and headed over to join them, cooing at Tocsin upon getting close. His expression became content when she did this.

Upon reaching the edge, after a few minutes of approach, Goldy slowly got to all fours and peered over the edge. He nearly sustained a surge of vertigo, seeing that there was absolutely nothing, but clouds, below, and the land seemed to retract beneath. "YIIEEE!" he yelped, backing away on all fours.

Thystian, looking out, could see that, attached to the land on the other side of the river, was a sturdy, according to his scans, rope bridge. It reached out some distance, and connected a rather small satellite islet from the main island, which held in the air at the same height as the rest of the land. On it was a two story-house, large and pretty in appearance. "Hmm..." he droned quietly. He seemed to be familiar with it.

Tocsin and Deetria together flew off the edge of the island, and moved around to see where the water of the river was going. They could see that it silently poured off the mountain, and down into the clouds below, disappearing. "Wow..." Deetria whispered.

The two continued to fly down, peering at the underside of the island, and could see that it was just a fine brown dirt. The winds gradually grew stronger as they flew down to see if they could reach the clouds. However, as soon as they got completely below the island, the two were struck by an extremely intense gale of wind. Deetria squealed, being launched by it. Tocsin cried out as well, thrown with Deetria by the wind. The two struggled to get higher up.

Thystian and Goldy watched, Goldy feeling nervous. They were relieved however when Tocsin, wrapping his tail around Deetria's, as he still was able to do, helped her escape from the wind to the calm, breezy air above. They made their way back to the others.

Thystian spoke, "Yeah, the wind is pretty powerful on this planet below the island level. The closer you get to the clouds, the more intense the winds get. Best to stay away from them, as that wind gets so strong by the time it you've reached the clouds that it can rip ships apart."

"It's so weird!" Deetria exclaimed, "The water that's pouring off the island isn't being effected!"

"Nature of the planet I suppose," Thystian replied. He pointed at the house, and said, "That's our target. The inhabitants might provide us with a place to stay for the night."

"Good. It's gonna be night soon I can tell," Goldy replied.

Thystian waded out into the river, and pushed his way through the knee-deep water to the other side. Goldy hopped onto a rock, and hopped onto other rocks to get across, nearly falling in at one point. Tocsin and Deetria simply followed in the air, staying close.

Upon reaching the other side, they headed for the bridge. "Is it safe?" Goldy asked nervously.

"Yeah, scans say so," Thystian replied, as he lead the group out over the bridge.

Goldy peered down, and saw the clouds again. He yelped, and clung tightly to the ropes beside him as he walked across the slightly swaying bridge. It took a few minutes, but they made it across, and approached the house.

As they looked upon it, they could see that it had at least two floors, with its front door at a middle level. A large porch on stilts connected to the structure, at the middle level, stairs leading up to it. The group climbed the stairs, and drew near to the front door.

~~07~~

Upon reaching the door, Thystian was quiet for a moment. Goldy stood beside him, and Tocsin hovered above Goldy's head, Deetria next to Tocsin.

Thystian looked at his group, then at the door, and reached for a button. He pressed it, and the group heard a bell go off inside. They looked at each other for a moment while silence held, and a breeze blew past. The door opened, and before them was a sight that shocked Goldy and Tocsin.

A female reptilian being had answered. Only somewhat humanoid in appearance, she appeared to be a cross between a dinosaur and a naga. Initially, she had a humanoid torso and arms. Her head was humanoid, with a horizontally long mouth, huge, snake-like fangs peeking out and pointing down. Her eyes had vertical slits for pupils, bearing a shimmering silver color. There was no sign of a nose, and her ears appeared to be nothing more than holes in the sides of her head. She had rather long, golden hair, straight and beautiful, reaching from her head down her back. Her arms were rather elongated, feminine. Large, straight claws, instead of fingernails, emerged from the fingertips of her long fingers. Spreading from her back, likely from the shoulderblades, were a pair of draconic wings, large, with three massive finger-like bones with flesh extending between each. The finger sections ended in huge bone spikes. She appeared to have a "hill" on her chest were breasts would develop on mammalian beings. They did not appear to be anything more than a feminine development. From the hips down, her body was entirely snake-like in appearance, a long snake body that seemed to extend several feet beyond where it reached the ground. Her body's surface consisted of a covering of scales which seemed to range in size dramatically determined by the area of the body. Hands, tail tip, wing bone and face scales were very small and thin, while torso and snake-section scales were large and looked highly durable. Her scales appeared to be a pleasant bronze color all throughout, some rogue scales being darker in color than the rest, almost giving off a freckled appearance.

She emitted a slight hiss, but smiled. "Hello," she said, with a gentle, feminine voice.

Goldy and Tocsin were dead silent, but Deetria seemed familiar with this race. She replied first, "Hi!"

The snake girl looked at her and smiled still, her unusually long mouth producing a creepy, fanged smile, yet her eyes displayed an attitude of friendliness. "Greetings," Thystian said, getting her attention again, "I am Thystian. These are my friends, Goldy, Tocsin and Deetria. We're... looking for a place to stay as we just descended the entire mountain."

"Oh wow... Did you ssseriousssly jussst climb down the whole mountain? That'sss an incredible feat. How did you even get all the way up there?" she replied, producing a noticeable hissing drag on her "S"es. Very fitting for a snake.

Goldy and Tocsin just stared. Thystian replied, "It's a long story... I'll tell you later."

She smiled, sliding back and gesturing a hand to let them in. Deetria whispered to Tocsin, "She's a Spilievern. Don't be afraid. They're actually quite friendly."

"I see..." Tocsin replied. Goldy overheard as well.

The four of them stepped into the house. They immediately heard another female voice, that sounded slightly deeper than the one that had just let them in, speak, "Adelline! Who'sss at the door?"

The Spilievern, apparently bearing the name Adelline, replied, "We have guessstsss! A NeopSssPGXA warrior, and three dragonsss!"

The voice called out, "Whoa... Far from home..."

Right in the entrance, they could see that it was a small access foyer, with a set of stairs on the left going up, and set of stairs on the right going down. There appeared to be a of couple pictures of other Spilievern beings on the wall of the descending stairwell. The lights were out down below, while it was well lit above. They noticed a second Spilievern woman approach the top of the stairs and look down at them. She looked a few years older than the first, but had the same scale coloration. Her difference was that her hair, while also long, was silver, while her eyes were gold. Her chest formation appeared a couple inches greater in size than the first woman's.

As soon as she and Thystian made eye contact, they froze. Adelline gestured for them to head up the stairs, and Goldy complied, feeling just a smidge of attraction toward these snake girls. Tocsin and Deetria followed, staying close.

Goldy reached the top of the stairs, and could now see this area clearly. Immediately to the left at the top of the stairs was a wide-open living room in front of the house, while the back was apparently the dining area. There were three large windows on the front, left side and back walls. The back wall window was a sliding door leading to a back porch. There was a nicely cleaned dining room table, while the living room section had a large plush couch, a recliner and an ovular rug. The place was decorated with pictures and objects, including a huge analog clock on one wall. Immediately at the top of the stairs was a doorway into a kitchen. And off to the right was a small hall leading to a door, with at least three other doors in it as well. They were all shut at this time.

"Don't be rude, Zessssta! Ssstop ssstaring at Thyssstian!" Adelline exclaimed to the other woman.

The other shook her head, and pretended she hadn't been in the first place as she responded, "Eh!"

Everyone gathered in the living room section. Adelline spoke, "Sssorry about that. Welcome. I'm Adelline Vandelssski, thisss isss my older sssissster, Zessssta."

"Hi!" Deetria replied cutely. Adelline smiled at Deetria, charmed by her precious, and now beautiful, appearance.

"Well aren't you a pretty little thing," Adelline replied.

Deetria giggled, approaching Adelline. Goldy, still just a little nervous from the sisters' fierce appearance, said to Tocsin, "Deetria wasn't kidding when she said we'd meet all kinds..."

Tocsin nodded, watching Deetria talk. Zessta spoke to them, "I can sssee you've been doing quite sssome traveling... Pleassse, have a ssseat, ressst."

She gestured to the seats. Goldy, gladly complying, walked over to the recliner and sat in it, moving his tail to stick out one side. Thystian stepped over and sat on one end of the couch. Tocsin hovered near Goldy, watching Deetria and Adelline talk.

Zessta looked at her sister, narrowed an eye, then looked back at the group. "Will you be needing food too?"

Goldy nodded quickly, and said, "Yeah, haven't eaten in a while. And just so you know, Tocsin here eats pure sugar. Deetria eats just honey."

"Curiousss," she replied as she slithered past her sister to a door into the kitchen.

"And then Tocsin gave me this beautiful glowy rose, and it made me produce this feather tail! It's so pretty. He's so sweet," Deetria said to Adelline.

Adelline giggled slightly, looking over at Tocsin from where they lingered, and replied, "He'sss lissstening you know."

Deetria looked at the slightly embarrassed Tocsin, giggled, and replied, "Oh it's ok. He knows we're sweethearts."

Tocsin blinked. Adelline giggled some more.

Idle conversation consumed the remainder of the sunset as the day waned into night. The sky became consumed by the glorious panorama of stars, many of different colors. A steady nightly breeze blew over the islet, and the sound of wind chimes could be heard echoing from the back porch, which appeared to have a roof covering it, as compared to the front porch.

Deetria and Adelline, meanwhile, had gotten to know each other quite well already. Deetria, now clearly seeing herself as Tocsin's sweetheart, spent most of the time talking about the things they did for each other, with a very rose-tinted viewpoint of their adventure.

The only period at which the group ceased conversation was to eat. Once again, Thystian declined any food, while Goldy made up for it by eating a large roast Zessta had cooked. Mostly meat foods, Goldy was so satisfied by the time he finished, he had passed out on the couch, likely to sleep for the rest of the night. Tocsin and Deetria also had their fill of their unique diet. Tocsin rested on the top of the couch, watching Deetria look at the various items in the room.

"I need to step out back. We're going out into the Great White Expanse tomorrow... I need to get to calibrating the exact course we're going to take if we're gonna make it through..." Thystian said once things had quieted down.

"Oh dear... You need to go out into that dangerousss region? I sssee... Pleassse do get sssome sssleep before you do though..." Adelline replied, as she rested, curled up on the floor of the living room.

"Oh I will," Thystian replied.

He walked to the back of the room, around the dining room table. He and Zessta exchanged glances through a doorway in the side of the dining room area into the kitchen. He passed through the sliding door out into the back, and shut it quietly behind him.

Deetria drifted over to Adelline and said, "Thank you for your hospitality!"

Adelline smiled, nodding.

Deetria drifted over to the recliner and settled on it. She looked at Tocsin, who remained on the back of the couch over Goldy. She gestured with her tail feather for him to come, and he did so, calmly. Adelline, smiling at the sight, rose up and slithered into the kitchen. Her voice could be heard telling her sister she was going to head to bed for the night. Zessta could be heard acknowledging.

Adelline slithered out, and said, "Good night Deetria, Tocsssin. Sssleep well."

"Night night!" Deetria replied cutely.

Adelline slithered down the stairs to the lower level. Deetria and Tocsin observed as Zessta slithered out of the kitchen through the hallway door. She looked at them, seeing them together on the chair, and grinned. She moved off into the upper corridor and passed through a door.

Deetria then looked at Tocsin, who looked back. They were silent, before Deetria nuzzled him, then kissed his cheek gently. She snuggled closer, and spoke, "Night night Tocsin."

"Good night Deetria," Tocsin replied gently.

"Zzzzzsnooggin... Ahh Brainy, your double-decker multi-slice ham & steak sandwiches are simply delish..." Goldy mumbled, still asleep.

Tocsin and Deetria glanced at him, then lowered their heads, crossing their necks and tails, with Deetria's tail over Tocsin's, while his neck was over hers. They closed their eyes nearly in unison.

~~08~~

"Alright, the system's going... I am NOT taking my friends out into that vast expanse of nothingness without knowing EXACTLY where we're going..." Thystian said, mostly to himself.

Out in the back yard, in which there was a warmed pool of water, among some lawn chairs and a pink flamingo statue, as odd as it was to see out here, Thystian lingered. The back porch had stairs leading straight down to this large back yard, its edges clearly defined against the white void beyond. Thystian, near the edge, had set up an array of scanning systems, which seemed to be getting three-point scans of the vast expanse out beyond. At the edge, Thystian stood, staring out at the white void. The silhouettes of a few very distant islands could be seen off to the east and west, but straight north, as he faced, there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"I should have collected more data on how long Goldy can fly... Tocsin and Deetria stay in the air all the time, and my Hoverboard has the right modifications for this, but it doesn't dismiss the threat of exhaustion..." Thystian droned.

"And getting lost is simply out of the question... I hope I can target that Magnettosphere..." he added.

As Thystian worked on his mapping systems, a bronze figure could be seen drawing close from behind, gold eyes glowing faintly in the darkness, lit only by the stars and the faint glow of Thystian's suit.

Thystian gasped when Zessta wrapped her arms around him, and pressed her front against his back. She moved her tail end around a bit to be around his feet, and moved her head to be beside his. She looked at him, head close to his, and said, "Thyssstian... Thyssstian... Oh it'sss been ssso long... I never thought I'd sssee you again after all thessse yearsss... I am ssso sssurprisssed, yet... ssso pleasssed to sssee you."

Thystian, knowing it was not a threat, continued to work with his machine, though he replied, "Yes, Zessta. I would have to agree."

"Did you missss me?" she asked, her head pressed against his, body squeezed close.

"Perhaps, Zessta," Thystian replied quietly.

"Hmmm..." she droned, squeezing a little more, tail wrapped around his legs more. She said, "Thossse are sssome adorable friendsss you brought with you. Wherever did you find them?"

Thystian explained, "Well... Goldy and Tocsin are from Earth. Seems Goldy's got a mechanically-inclined but accident-prone brother that built a portal machine that cast them to this galaxy. I, meanwhile, was taking Deetria on a mission, when we were separated on Mara Seven by Insectids... This whole adventure started when we all met up there. I'm collecting six important elements for NeoSPGXA, and I've got three so far. We went from Mara Seven to Coll, to Domargomka'Irysme, to here. We've got a couple more planets left to go to, too. I've gotta get us prepared to head out into the Great White Expanse to find the Magnettosphere."

Zessta, still squeezed against Thystian, her wings fanned, replied, "Mm-hmm... Alwaysss been one for big missssionsss, Thyssstian... But the Great White Expanssse is dealing with bigger problemsss than the Sssky Wormsss right now... There'sss sssome illegal cloud dredging operationsss being run by Noxiunsss going on out there. Maybe you ssshould ssstay here for a little while inssstead..."

"Hmm... Not sure... Hmm, this thing's getting a closer frequency, but it's having a hard time making a lock. The sphere seems to be moving..." Thystian replied.

Still squeezing, pressing her breast formation against Thystian's back, Zessta replied, "Hnn... Maybe the Noxiunsss found what you're looking for... You'd be hard-pressssed to get it from them."

Thystian was silent for the moment, attempting to get a better lock. Finally, Zessta used her wings to propel the two away from the machine and more into the middle of the back yard. Thystian yelped in surprise.

She slithered herself around to be face to face with Thystian, and said, "Enough of that, Thyssstian... Pay attention to ME for oncsse. Jussst like alwaysss, you're paying ssso much attention to the missssion at hand..."

She traced her finger on the NeoSPGXA symbol on his helmet. Thystian, not struggling, his hands down straight at the moment, replied with a chuckle, "And you're the same personal-space invader you've always been, Zessta,"

Zessta echoed a hissing snicker, and said, "What would it take for me to be able to KEEP your persssonal ssspace thisss time? You know how clossse we usssed to be before _Sssavanna_ got in the way..."

"I've told you before, and I'll repeat myself for the sake of satisfaction: there's nothing between Savanna and I, Zessta," Thystian stated, matter-of-factly.

"Hmm, but you ssstill have that sssame effect on women that you alwaysss do, being what you are..." Zessta said, with a sensual tone.

"You're telling me... After that Malamanita'Verna's coming on to me, I kinda wish I could change my race..." Thystian droned looking to the side.

"Nonsssenssse. Don't sssay ssstupid thingsss like that. It doesssn't matter anyway. Now that we're reunited, I'm keeping you thisss time," she said, squeezing against him, wings draped around him, nearly completely engulfing him.

"Zessta... Cease and desist. I have friends I'm obligated to lead, two of them back home, and I have a mission to accomplish. I can't just desert my mission," Thystian warned.

Zessta emitted an angry hiss, and exclaimed, "Ssso dedicated! Why can't _I_ be the sssubject of that dedication?! Thyssstian, you frussstrate me ssso much!"

She squeezed tighter, and Thystian's internal systems began to warn him of potential crush damage if this were to continue. "Shhh... Shh... Zessta, calm down... Remember that promise we made..."

"Yeah, I remember that promissse! You sssaid you'd come back to me one day. You promisssed it. And now you have, yet you plan on jussst leaving again jussst like that?! Well not thisss time. Thyssstian, you're ssstaying RIGHT here," Zessta hissed.

She could not hear the suit's alarms warning him that the shielding was beginning to take damage. Thystian fell silent for a moment, and his silence slowly calmed Zessta. She eased her powerful serpentine muscles, and his suits alarms calmed.

"Zessta... I must complete my mission... However, if you wish... I may be able to compensate for the time's being," Thystian said quietly.

"Hmm?" she replied, eyes very close, peering through the glowing symbol, attempting to make out Thystian's eyes within, though to no avail.

Thystian spoke, "You know your way around the Great White Expanse pretty well, that much we know. Zessta, I need help finding the Magnettosphere, and I need to get through that as fast as possible. I simply cannot risk the lives of my friends by getting lost. Plus, if there are Noxiuns cloud dredging out there, I could use all the help I can get. So I'm going to ask you this: Would you like to travel with us out there and help me find the fourth element?"

Zessta developed a huge, toothy grin, revealing nightmarish teeth joining in with her huge fangs. She flicked her forked tongue a little, hissing, and replied, "Thyssstian, you alwaysss knew the right thing to sssay to make me happy... I accssept your offer."

Thystian replied, "I'm glad... I would like to continue keeping this relationship a secret however, so try to avoid disclosing it to the others."

Zessta nodded, resting her forehead against his helmet. She replied, "I will do that, for you, Thyssstian. Thank you."

"Thank you too, Zessta. Now, are you going to sleep?" he replied.

"Perhapsss... But not right now..." she said quietly, eyes narrowed slightly, a grin on her face still.

Wrapped around him still, she kept her chest pressed against his, and opened her wings a bit, allowing her to take hold of Thystian's helmet. She felt with a finger and found a switch, before pressing it, and suddenly twisting the helmet clockwise slightly. A steamy hiss was heard as a cold blue gas was released from plugs on his suit. Thystian held still, as her wings came down again, blocking any view of him as she removed his helmet to get to his real face within.

END

Dragon Tails © Tim Dawson

Wenonah Galaxy © Adrian Smith


	9. 09: Cloudy Horizon

Roseus Elementeus

Chapter Nine – Cloudy Horizon

~~00~~

The star, known as Mynurvah, soon returned to the endless sky of Gravairna. The stars faded into the white oblivion to rest for the day. The morning mists began to rise, providing the plantlife of this world with their watery nourishment. The nightly breeze faded, and the day insects had begun to call, joined shortly after by the birds, their calls echoing from the forest back on the main island.

And they weren't the only ones awake. Thystian stood down in the dew-laden lawn, packing up his array of sensors and directors. He was silent, his helmet back on and fully attached. He looked back at the deck, to see Zessta sleeping on a cushy standing swing, where the two had slept for the night.

Inside, the sizzling of food being cooked could be heard from the kitchen. Adelline was clearly the morning person of the two Spilievern sisters. There she stood, in the kitchen, making a meaty breakfast complimented with strange, red-colored eggs with orange yolks. Clearly not the eggs of any earthly creature.

Deetria and Tocsin remained relatively unchanged in their sleeping positions on the recliner. Her tail over his, his neck over hers, and their wings overlapping in various manners. Goldy lay asleep on the couch still, on his side, a leg kicking slightly.

Adelline slithered out of the kitchen to place food on the table, and looked over at the sleeping dragons. She developed a large, warm, if creepy, smile at the sight of the two little dragons sleeping as one almost. "Love even amongssst the tiny onesss..." she whispered to herself. She turned and went back into the kitchen.

On the back porch, Zessta's snake-like tongue flickered out slightly, and she shortly opened her eyes partway. Laying on her side, she peered out at Thystian, who was now kneeling, holding a pair of binoculars of some sort. She slowly rose to sit upright, then stretched and yawned a massive yawn, her razor-sharp teeth on full display. She watched as Thystian slowly panned the viewing tool from left to right, then down into the clouds below. He stood up.

Zessta pulled off of the swing, and slithered over to the edge of the porch, watching as he held out his hand, palm up, and created a hologram of the planet again, which seemed to have several red dots in one spot on the planet's image. He slowly nodded.

Zessta fanned her wings out, then folded them up, and slithered to the back door. Upon entering, Adelline greeted, "Morning sssissster. Did you sssleep well out there?"

With a grin, Zessta replied, "Quite likely the bessst sssleep I've had in agesss."

"I hope you didn't harassss Thyssstian..." Adelline responded with a worried expression.

"Don't worry about it. Either way though, Thyssstian requesssted that I travel with hisss group out there to find the Magnettosssphere he'sss after, ssso I'll be gone for a while," Zessta said.

"I sssee... Well, I hope you behave yourssself out there. Do you want breakfassst?" Adelline asked.

Zessta shook her head as she replied, "Ssstill full on lassst night'sss dinner. I'll be ok. Though be sssure to give them one of our Ssspecial Pouchesss. Fill it with food, and put sssome Energy Ssseedsss in it. Thyssstian wasss worried about Goldy getting exausssted from the trip."

Adelline nodded, and replied, "I will do that."

Adelline returned to the kitchen, while her sister headed to her room on the top floor. Upon shutting her door, the sound apparently awoke Goldy with a start. He yelled, as he awoke, "RUN AWAY!!! BLUEY'S GOT A NEW EXPERI– ...Oh. ...Where? ...Oh yeah..."

He scratched the back of his head, and stretched. He flinched when he saw Adelline peeking out of the kitchen's side door at him with one eye. He also noticed that his yelling, this time, failed to awaken Tocsin and Deetria. Adelline slithered out of the kitchen and over to him, before leaning forward to get face to face. Goldy pulled back just slightly as she did. She smiled, and said, "And good morning to you too, sssilly little dragon."

Goldy chuckled nervously, then sniffed at the air. Adelline grinned, and moved to gesture to the table, with food for Goldy. There was also two bowls, one of sugar, the other of honey, resting on the side. "Pleassse have sssome breakfassst before you go. You're going to need all the ssstamina you can mussster for the flight you'll be taking," she said kindly.

Goldy, smiling, got up, and replied, "Great! Thanks."

He walked over and sat at the table, and began to munch. Adelline headed to a closet, and moved inside slightly, before leaving it and heading into the kitchen again, carrying a curious green bag that appeared to be made of scales.

Goldy, as he ate his food, looked out the back window and could see that Thystian had brought out his Hoverboard, and seemed to be making modifications to it. Goldy thought about what Adelline said, and came to the conclusion he was soon going to be doing a lot of flying. As he ate, he started to exercise his wings, flexing and flapping them, stretching and working them to ready them for heavy use.

Once he was finished with breakfast, he sat back and sighed contentedly. "Ahh..." he sighed, "Some of these Wenonaen foods are really tasty. I'm gonna miss them when I get home."

Adelline emerged from the kitchen, holding the bag, and handed it to him. He peered at it curiously, and looked at Adelline. Smiling, she said, "That'sss a Ssspilievern Pouch. It'sss an indessstructable dimensssional pouch with infinite holding capacssity. I've filled it with variousss food and drink itemsss, and sssome Energy Ssseedsss. They're important for getting ssstamina back in case you need them. Pleassse take it."

Goldy nodded, took it, and strapped it to his side. He found that the item, curiously, seemed to have no weight. He then replied, "Thanks! Good to have a mobile food source now. We're really set for this trip. Kinda wish we had all this stuff from the start though..."

Adelline snickering hissingly, quietly. She turned to look at Deetria and Tocsin. Goldy glanced at her, then around at the two. He and Adelline smiled at the sight of the two little dragons asleep on the chair still. Goldy spoke, "It's amazing how close those two have grown over the course of this adventure. I could tell right from the start Tocsin had a thing for Deetria. She's a bit on the innocent side though, so it took some heroics and gift giving to get her attached."

Adelline replied, as the two watched the little ones sleep, "Yesss... But now ssshe isss clearly in love with him. I could tell, consssidering how much ssshe told me about him lassst night. It's sssimply adorable. Makesss me just a little jealousss."

Goldy slowly nodded, and replied, "Yeah... Me too... kinda..."

He and Adelline exchanged a glance, and Goldy looked in another direction. Adelline grinned. She looked to the side however upon seeing her sister emerge, now wearing a light-weight field plate: a suit of armor with metallic arm coverings, that ended in a slightly fanning manner at her hips. It was open in the back to allow her wings out. It was deep grey in color, imbued with Silver and some unusual Wenonaen elements. She also wore a helmet with a "T"-shaped opening in the front, and a large comb that reached up at the top and curved around down the back, very much like Thystian's. It too was deep grey, and imbued with Silver and other elements. Goldy blinked at the sight as Zessta slithered by, heading outside.

He looked at Adelline, and she looked back. The two were silent, and looked back out to see Zessta talking to Thystian. He nodded, then she nodded. He turned to head back down the steps, and Zessta approached and slithered in. "Thyssstian sssaysss that we're ready to leave when you are," she said quietly.

Goldy blinked, and replied, "Ok, but... 'we'?"

Zessta, with a hidden grin, replied, "I'm going too, Goldy. Thyssstian'sss letting me come along and help on thisss flying missssion."

Goldy narrowed an eye and asked, "You are? He is? ...Why?"

Zessta kept silent, grinning, then turned and slithered back out, shutting the door behind her. Goldy, blinking, glanced at Adelline. She had nothing to say, looking perhaps a little sad. She turned her view toward the two little sleeping dragons again. Goldy looked over at them, then hopped off his chair to walk over. Adelline followed, and the two stood before the chair, watching the two little ones.

Goldy looked at Adelline and whispered, "I really hate ruining such a cute little scene."

Adelline sighed, replying, quietly, "Yesss... But I sssuppossse when it'sss time to go, it'sss time to go."

Goldy nodded slowly, and looked at the two. Reaching out, he gently poked Tocsin, then Deetria, on their heads. Tocsin grumbled, and flailed a wing at Goldy, while Deetria's eyes popped open. She looked up at Goldy, squinty, then yawned, closing her eyes. Adelline smiled warmly at the sight. Deetria gazed up at the two cutely, and said, "Good morning Goldy. Good morning Adelline."

"Morning little one," Adelline replied.

Goldy poked Tocsin again, and Tocsin muttered, opening his eyes now. He looked up at Goldy, then at Adelline, then at Deetria, all of whom were looking at him. He looked forward straight, then sighed. "Morning Tocsin," Deetria said sweetly, before nuzzling him.

"Good morning Deetria," Tocsin replied softly. He then looked at Goldy and said, "I presume this rude awakening means it's time to move out?"

"Yep. 'Fraid so," Goldy replied.

"Yay. More adventure," Deetria chimed, rising with Tocsin into the air.

"I have sssome food for you to eat before you go, little onesss. Pleassse eat, asss your trip ahead may be exhausssting," Adelline said kindly.

She gestured to the table, and to the two bowls. "Thank you!" Deetria squealed, and the two approached them.

Deetria began to consume the honey, while Tocsin vacuumed up the sugar. Goldy and Adelline waited for them, moving to be standing by the door.

Once the two were finished, Deetria sighed contentedly, and squealed, "Zembee Honey! I haven't had any of that in a LONG time! It's so good... Thank you!"

Adelline smiled warmly. Tocsin nodded, his expression calm now, and the two met up with Goldy at the door. They all four headed out onto the back porch, then down into the back yard, to where Thystian and Zessta stood by. There, Thystian stood on his Hoverboard. Its branching arms were spiraling faster than normal, which Tocsin noticed. He too noticed that Zessta was wearing armor, and narrowed an eye. Deetria, however, seemed to know immediately what was going on. She swooped over to Zessta and said, "You're gonna go with us?!"

Zessta nodded, and Deetria cheered happily. Tocsin asked, "Why?"

Zessta replied with a smirk, "Caussse Thyssstian needsss me."

Thystian stood still, silent, arms crossed. Deetria giggled, looking at Thystian. Tocsin kept the confused expression, and Goldy developed one too.

Adelline approached her sister, and the two looked at each other. "Pleassse be careful out there sssissster..." Adelline said, clearly not that happy to see her sister heading out into a dangerous region.

Zessta proceeded to hug her sister, and replied quietly, "I'll be fine. You jussst take care of the houssse and any other guessstsss that might ssshow up, kay?"

They ended their hug, hands together still, and Adelline nodded. Tocsin drifted up to Thystian and asked quietly, "Why is she REALLY going with us?"

Thystian replied, "I have reason to believe another evil race is out there somewhere, and in possession of the Magnettosphere. We're gonna need the extra force to get it from them..."

"How many evil races are IN this Galaxy exactly?" Tocsin asked.

"A lot... A lot..." Thystian simply replied. He said, "We all ready to go?"

Everyone nodded. "Stretch your wings Goldy, you're in for a long flight!" Thystian said.

Goldy nodded, wings fanned, taking a few steps back to prepare his running start. Zessta too fanned her wings. "Move out!" Thystian exclaimed, before flying off the island. His modified Hoverboard kept him at the same height. Tocsin and Deetria flew out with him. With a mighty beat of her huge wings, Zessta launched up into the air and swooped off after Thystian. Goldy ran forward, leapt, and got his wings going. He dropped below the island with a yell, then shortly rose back up, and waved back to Adelline. She waved to him, and Zessta, who also waved back. Adelline whispered to herself, "Maybe I gave him a little too much food..." She watched as Goldy bobbed in the air a bit, his wings buzzing to keep airborne.

~~01~~

Flying for some time now, at a pretty high speed, they had taken up a formation with Thystian and Zessta in the lead, Tocsin and Deetria in the middle, and Goldy taking up the rear. Thystian simply stood straight up, arms still crossed, as he stood on his board, flying forward. Zessta rarely had to beat her wings, gliding on currents of wind in the air.

Deetria looked down to the clouds as they rushed past below the group, fascinated by the empty whiteness. A decent wind blew past the group. Tocsin looked off to the side, and could see that a faint silhouette of a far-away island was fading into the white void. Goldy, having stabilized his flight, took up the rear, eyes only half open. Even though he had tiny wings, he too could take moments to rest by gliding on updrafts occasionally.

"Do you know where we're going exactly?!" Tocsin shouted to Thystian over the winds, as the group sped along.

"As best as I can, Tocsin! I spent half the night plotting a course, so I'd BETTER be right! This place is a dangerous region for two good reasons. One of them is the fact that it's so huge, SHIPS sometimes can't handle the distances! That is, commercial ships... This is nothing for star ships," Thystian replied.

Tocsin shouted, "I DON'T consider that a satisfying answer!"

Thystian replied, "I'm sorry, but that's the best I can do! Just keep your eyes open for flying boats with energy nets below them! They're our target!"

"Flying boats?" Deetria asked.

"Illegal Cloud Dredging. Those clouds are actually an environment for all kinds of creatures. Many of them harmless. The dredgers capture the animals, and sell them to an illegal market, often killing them for various reasons," Thystian explained.

Deetria, an angry expression, said, "That's mean! What are we gonna do if we find them?!"

Thystian looked back, and they could tell by the tone of his voice that he was smirking as he said, "Destroy them."

"Heh..." Tocsin said.

Goldy, still in the rear, yawned. Thystian called back, "How are you holding up back there Goldy?"

"I'll be fine. For now anyway," he replied.

Zessta, looking back, said, "I sssee my sssissster gave you a Ssspilievern Pouch. Did ssshe put Energy Ssseedsss in it like I asssked her to?"

Goldy replied, "She said she did, so I'd imagine so."

"Good," Zessta replied, looking forward again.

Goldy added, "I might need them at this ra– ... ... ..."

Below him, in the clouds, he witnessed an object slowly rise partially out, then recede back in. It appeared to be a deep blue fin, like a dorsal fin of some sort. Goldy was silent, and Tocsin yelled, "'At this' what?!"

Goldy looked at Tocsin and said, "...At this rate. I might need them at this rate."

Tocsin fell silent, wondering why Goldy cut himself off like that. The group continued on for a while, speeding over the clouds. With time, Mt. Sky Fountain could no longer be seen at all anymore behind them. Goldy continued to fly, now watching the clouds below, and correcting his flight path whenever he found he was drifting. The group had been flying for a while, with nothing in sight ahead.

As they flew, Goldy caught a glimpse of what definitely looked to him like the same dorsal fin peek out of the clouds, then recede below again. Shortly, it emerged once more, with two identical ones forming a line behind it. He'd ignored it the first time, but now he was starting to get anxious.

He looked up, and said, "...Hey Thystian? You said there were two good reasons why this region was dangerous... What was the other?"

Thystian slowly looked over his shoulder, and Zessta developed a worried expression. Thystian replied, "There's a species of creature in the clouds that's NOT so harmless... ...Why?"

Tocsin and Deetria also looked back, and Goldy said, "Those wouldn't happen to belong to it, would they?" He pointed to the fins.

Everyone looked down. "OH PRIME NO!!!" Thystian yelled.

Zessta shrieked. Deetria too was scared, and Tocsin definitely unnerved. Then, a low rumble began to fill the air, followed by a deep, deep roar. The clouds bursting, an enormous, sky-blue worm slowly lunged up toward the group out of the clouds. Its body consisted of an endless number of segments, each sporting a set of four dorsal fins pointing in the four cardinal directions. Its mouth was a giant round opening lined with dagger-like teeth. Inside its mouth was a black void. It emitted the deep roar, as it lunged toward the group. Electricity could be seen crackling down its body as it moved.

The beast aimed its slow attack at Goldy. With a scream, Goldy buzzed straight up into the air, while the others shot forward faster. The beast, missing, slowly descended into the sea of clouds below.

Upon regrouping, Deetria pressed against Tocsin, shivering and whimpering. Goldy's face looked a bit pale. Tocsin yelled, "What the friggen' HECK was THAT?!"

Thystian yelled back, "That, my friends, is a Sky Worm... It is the ultimate, and deadliest creature on planet Gravairna!"

"I'll say!" Goldy replied, looking around at the clouds frantically.

There in the clouds, the fins rose into view again, and the deep roar echoed. With screams, the group scattered again, as the monstrous worm lunged out of the clouds, moving a little faster, gaping maw aimed for Zessta. With an audible hissing shriek, she swooped up into the air to avoid the attempted consumption attack. She shrieked in pain the next second when a bolt of lightning shot off one of the beast's fins and struck her. Thystian yelled out, swooping around and rushing toward Zessta. The monster worm returned to the sea of clouds, while Thystian caught Zessta in his arms. She hissed in pain.

Goldy, powering up his Purity Rings, fired his healing beams at Zessta. She flinched, then looked at Goldy. "He has Purity Rings," Thystian commented.

"And here I thought he wasss jussst a fassshion nut," she replied with a grin. She flickered her tongue at Thystian, before beating her wings and taking to flight again.

The group began to move faster, and Tocsin yelled, "HOW do we FIGHT that thing?!"

"We can't..." Thystian replied, "Nothing short of Master-class Elemental attacks, or Nuclear Weaponry can HARM the beast, much less kill it. Our only option, is to RUN!"

The group screamed, racing forward to avoid another leap attack by the Sky Worm.

~~02~~

The group sped along at top speed now, the clouds blazing past below. Now Zessta was beating her wings faster, and moving in an undulating manner, which seemed to improve her speed, her long body waving through the air. Goldy's wings buzzed, and he reached into the Spilievern Pouch. He took out a small baggy filled with seeds that, to him at least, looked a lot like sunflower seeds. He ate a couple of them, and shortly felt a surge of energy. He could now easily keep up with the group.

Tocsin and Deetria had no trouble keeping up, though Deetria was scared. Tocsin stayed close, and whispered, "Focus, Deetria... Try to overcome your fear..."

Deetria looked at Tocsin, slowly nodding, her forehead feather flapping in the wind, and she looked forward.

With another roar, the mighty Sky Worm launched out of the clouds at Goldy, but was unable to keep up as Goldy dashed forward to avoid the attack. He also swerved to let a lightning bolt pass. Thystian was nearly hit, and yelled out, keeping at top speed, now standing in a hunched manner.

"We mussst ssshift that way a little!" Zessta exclaimed, pointing slightly to the left.

Thystian, after checking his directions, nodded, and the group shifted a bit to the left. Another roar, and the Sky Worm shot straight up out of the clouds directly below them. With yells and shrieks, the group scattered off in random directions to avoid, and the worm slowly arched high in the sky and returned to the clouds below, its endless body still arching, and the whole thing slowly receding into the clouds.

Immediately upon regrouping, Thystian and Zessta recalculated their positions, and the five of them shot off again. Deetria, whimpering, kept whispering to herself, "Gotta be brave... Gotta be brave... Gotta help Tocsin..."

The fins of the worm broke the surface of the clouds once more, as the group sped through the Great White Expanse at high speed. A deep roar echoed up, and the worm rose its head out of the clouds, not lunging. Instead, it fired a bolt of electricity at the group. Goldy yelped, swerving to the side to avoid. Tocsin looked back in time to see the bolt strike him. With a yell, Tocsin fell unconscious from the sheer power of the leviathan's electrical powers. He began to tumble. "TOCSIN!!" both Deetria and Goldy exclaimed.

The two swooped to catch him, but Deetria, smaller and faster, arrived first, and Tocsin landed with a soft thud on her back. She whimpered, his weight now added to her own. Goldy swooped by, and looked back. He yelped upon seeing Thystian and Zessta pulling away. He rushed to catch up, while Deetria moved as fast as she could. She grunted, now having to carry the weight of two and fly as fast as she could at the same time. She whimpered, "Tocsin... Tocsin! Please... wake up Tocsin... Wake up!"

Tocsin emitted a faint groan. Deetria, whimpering still, struggling to keep up with the others, now in the rear, looked around in fear, for the worm. As she flew, she brought her feather tail up and rested it on Tocsin. The tail began to glow, and Tocsin began to glow shortly after.

"Wake up Tocsin... please..." Deetria pleaded, beginning to lose sight of the other three now.

She yelped at the sight of the worm's fins emerging from the clouds, though they passed her, as the beast pursued the other three, bigger, targets. Tocsin grunted, raising his head with a yelp, and he looked around. He looked down at Deetria, who had curved her neck to look up at him. She was visibly upset. They shared a gaze for a second, before Tocsin took to the air again, seeing they were falling behind. He looked at Deetria and said, "Thank you Deetria..."

Despite their peril, Deetria moved her head and nuzzled Tocsin, extremely relieved to see he was ok. The two looked forward, watching the worm leap out of the clouds in an effort to attack Goldy. Tocsin's eyes narrowed, and with a gesture from his head, he and Deetria sped up, now unhindered, to catch up to the group.

"I WISH BLUEY WERE HERE RIGHT NOW!!!" Goldy screamed, swooping to avoid a lunge, then twirling to avoid an electrical bolt. "One of HIS bombs would blow this thing to smithereens!"

"Sssoundsss like a real nicssse guy!" Zessta yelled back.

"WHERE are Tocsin and Deetria?!" Thystian yelled.

Goldy looked back, and could see their pink and white glows growing as the two zoomed to catch up to the group. "They're catching up! The worm had shot Tocsin!"

"WHY didn't you try to help!?" Thystian yelled.

"Deetria got to him first, so I figured it was covered!" Goldy yelled back.

With a loud roar, the Sky Worm launched out of the clouds, aiming for Zessta again. She rushed forward and performed a shuttle loop to avoid an electrical bolt. Thystian and Goldy caught up, and soon Tocsin and Deetria arrived. "THANKS FOR THE HELP FATHEAD!" Tocsin yelled at Goldy.

"Dangit! That's Norman's insult!" Goldy yelled back, "Stop stealing lines!"

Tocsin glared at Goldy, and he and Deetria passed him to get back into formation.

Faint objects could be made out in the distance ahead, though at first they were nothing more than dots on the white backdrop. A deep roar was heard, and the group observed as the fins of the worm, currently cutting through the clouds, receded suddenly. The worm then launched out of the sky, aimed at Thystian.

Turning on his Hoverboard, Thystian took out one of his powerful Grenades he had used with frequency back on Mara Seven. He activated it, and threw it with great force. It flew into the mouth of the worm as it lunged toward the group. Within a second, an intense blue blast rocked from within the worm, and it emitted a different roar. The group, speeding through the sky, away from the worm, watched as it aborted its lunge, and disappeared into the clouds. Its fins rose up again and followed the group.

"Wow! That actually worked!" Tocsin replied.

"It just scared it! I doubt it hurt it!" Thystian replied.

The worm's fins receded into the clouds. The group readied for the next attack. But, it never came. Soon, there was nothing but the sound of the wind rushing past the group as they flew.

"Where... Where did it go?" Deetria asked, timidly.

"You REALLY scared it off Thystian!" Goldy exclaimed.

"I'm not ssso sssure it wasss Thyssstian..." Zessta replied.

They looked at her, and could see she was pointing ahead. They looked ahead, and could see that the dots on the cloudy horizon had grown into ships. They had the appearance of sea craft, with a smooth underside. Their decks were flat, made of a wood-like substance that looked half rotted. The ship had two noses, coming to points, at the front. The back halves of the ships had a raised section that was clearly an internal chamber, and on top of that, was another chamber that was apparently the pilot's station, as it was almost gazebo-like in appearance, with windows all around.

There were a total of six ships. Five were in a "V" formation, the tip of which was pointing back at the group. And ahead of the ships, in the center, was a larger version of the smaller dredgers, clearly the command ship. It was the same in design, only larger and armored.

Hanging from the dredgers, but not the command ship, were huge nets that appeared to be made of a pinkish-purple energy.

"And there'sss the dredgersss I'd mentioned!" Zessta exclaimed.

Thystian, standing straight, mallet now in hand, said, "And they're being run by Noxiuns alright... Everyone? It's time to shoot down some illegal cloud dredgers!"

"Are you sure we should do this? Isn't vigilantism frowned up?" Tocsin asked.

"No, Tocsin, not in regards to this particular situation. It's so hard to enforce the law against poaching and cloud dredging on this vast planet, the Nebula Empire has actually put out a REQUEST for anyone who encounters a dredger or more to destroy them if at all possible," Thystian explained.

Zessta added, after a hiss, "Plusss, the only good Noxiun isss a dead Noxiun..."

"They're starting to sound more like the Insectids the more I hear them..." Goldy replied.

"They're worse... Insectids leave things they consider unimportant alone. Noxiuns are all about death and decay..." Thystian replied.

"The name is fitting then..." Tocsin remarked.

"Let's go stop them! And save the cloud animals!" Deetria squealed.

The group nodded, and sped toward the Cloud Dredger fleet.

~~03~~

The group quickly drew near to the first dredger, which was actually quite large in comparison to them. It looked terribly run-down, with large holes in places on the deck. It looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a long time either.

On the deck was a trio of clearly lowest-rank Noxiuns. They looked up at the group upon their arrival, and shouted in a bizarre, ugly language. Goldy peered down upon them, taking in their appearance.

The body construct was mostly humanoid in appearance, though grotesquely twisted it would seem. The flesh of the body, colored a putrid green, resembled wraps wrapped around a human body. The lines of tiny fissures all over gave the appearance of a stereotypical undead mummy. The head however, was somewhat narrow and cone-shaped, elongated with the point angled off in a random direction depending on the individual. The tip was bent off to the back, left or right to a degree. There was no sign of hair on the body anywhere. The Noxiuns had three eyes each. Two eyes were where they would be found normally on a face, and possessed horizontal slits for pupils. The third eye was up higher, slightly off center, was vertically superior, and had a vertical slit for a pupil. The pupils were deep green, though at first, from a distance appeared to be black. The iris was also larger, encompassing more of the eye and only leaving a very small amount of the sclera visible in each eye. The nose appeared to be nothing but a black, triangular hole in the face. The mouth, the inside of which appeared to be solid black, like a void, was unusually large, with an jagged, thus frightening, appearance. The teeth within the mouth were needle-like, and appeared to be green in color, a bit lighter in shade than the skin. There was no sign of ears on the head. The neck was impossibly thin in appearance, bringing into question how a Noxiun was even capable of swallowing.

The torso appeared to be an unhealthily thin build. The shoulderblades, ribs and collarbones were pronounced, easily visible on the surface. The chest section was mostly humanoid, though. As with all of the body, the flesh resembled wraps. The arms were grotesquely long, and appeared stretched and fleshless for the most part, with equally elongated, point-tipped fingers, which possessed two additional knuckle joints in each finger. The elbows of the arms were unusual, in that they were free-moving ball-joints, that allowed the arm to be bent in manners that would break a human's arm. The shoulders were point-tipped, with the arms coming out from under a reach of bone that resembled a shoulder pad. The hips possessed the bone extensions found in the shoulders, protruding from the sides. The legs continued on down, and looked like twigs. How they supported the weight of the Noxiun was beyond Goldy. The knees were fully reversed. The feet appeared to have only one, single, giant, claw-tipped toe, and a second, about half the size of the front, pointed out the back, acting as the heel. Keeping balance was another unexplained capability, as the foot was roundish in appearance.

The beings wore tattered, ragged uniforms of a black and deep blue color.

Swooping over the deck of the ship, Thystian dropped three grenades, one near the back, one around the middle, which plunked down into a hole in the deck. The third he dropped near the front. The blasts rocked the poor-condition ship, and the Noxiuns screamed in panic.

Swooping by over the Noxiuns, Goldy released a blast of flames. The Noxiuns ignited immediately, and screamed. Goldy observed that his flames seemed extra effective on the beings. One collapsed, dead, immediately. Another fled and fell over the side of the deck into the clouds below. The third slipped into a hole in the deck.

Two more Noxiuns charged, panicking, out of a door from the raised chamber section of the ship. Deetria's turn to attack was now. Pointing her tail, she released bolts of holy energy at the ship and Noxiuns. The shots seemed to inflict some damage on the ship, but it was the Noxiuns who felt the brunt of the damage. One bolt blasted the arm off one of the Noxiuns, a green gas flowing forth. It screamed.

Aiming with an eye shut. Tocsin fired a plasma ball into one of the holes in the ship near the front. With a huge blast, a massive chunk of the ship broke loose, and began to plummet into the clouds below. The raging winds quickly began to tear it apart. Deetria, overjoyed to witness it, watched as a variety of very strange and, sometimes cute, animals launched themselves out into the clouds below. She could even swear that a small Sky Worm was amongst them.

Zessta then displayed to the group what element she apparently had control of. Swinging a hand, a grey whirlwind of razor wind energy spawned on the deck of the ship and began tearing at it. Swiping her hands, two more of these small cyclones formed, damaging the ship. A Noxiun was sucked into one and shredded. The three cyclones then merged into a huge one.

The group witnessed as the pilot of the ship, up in the pilot's station, screamed in panic as the cyclone roared toward the station, ripping it apart. With a huge blast, the old dredger's energy nets shut off, releasing back into the sea of clouds below, animals that had been caught. The ship itself began to plummet, and, caught by the winds, was destroyed completely.

Zessta grinned, and Goldy and Deetria cheered. The group rushed on to the next Dredger, to their right, in the right arm of the now broken "V" formation.

~~04~~

Nearing the ship, the group could see that it was in much better shape. The Noxiuns looked higher in rank, and a trio of them, standing near the edge of the ship, armed with guns of some alien design, took aim. They opened fire, releasing crescent-shaped bolts of green energy.

Full of adrenaline, the group split apart and dodged the shots easily, before converging upon the ship.

With a loud thud, Goldy landed on the wooden deck, which cracked a bit on impact. Two Noxiuns rushed at him with smaller guns, but screamed upon meeting Goldy's flame breath. Ignited, they fled, and Goldy swung around, blazing flames at other Noxiuns nearby, as well as inflicting his flames on the deck.

Deetria flew in circles over the ship, firing salvos of holy energy bolts at the Noxiuns and the ship itself. At the same time, her forehead feather raised, she fired large blasts of dangerous light energy, which too seemed effective on the Noxiuns, but more so on the ship itself. Learning this, Deetria began to blaze the light beams on the deck, while striking Noxiuns with her holy shots.

Staying with Deetria, Tocsin rained plasma death down upon the Noxiuns and the ship itself. Having learned how to project his plasma in fireball form, he'd taken to using this more frequently now, as it was faster than his exploding plasma balls.

With a crash, Thystian landed on the deck, Mallet first, putting a huge hole in it. His Hoverboard swooped forward and sliced clean through a Noxiun, terminating him. Thystian was struck by a crescent shot, and jolted. He tossed a grenade into the hole he'd made, before flinging his mallet at the three Noxiuns that were firing at him. One was slammed by the head, smashed apart and flew off the deck. The mallet, on returning, smashed through a second Noxiun, and Thystian caught his deadly projectile. A horrible blast blew up from the hole, severely cracking the deck. There Thystian stood in a dynamic pose, and the remaining Noxiun, terrified, committed suicide by leaping off the deck into the deadly winds below.

Zessta started spinning in flight, engulfing herself in cyclonic energy, and smashed into the deck, severely damaging it. Her impact released several cyclones, which roared out, shredding the deck and Noxiuns that got in its path. She launched up again to avoid enemy fire, and swooped down, slashing her large finger claws across the face of a Noxiun, blinding him. She then exhaled, blasting him away with a gust of wind. She looked over, witnessing Thystian smash away two leaping Noxiuns, armed with huge, jagged knives glowing green. She saw one rushing quietly toward Thystian from behind, and narrowed her eyes. With the speed of great wind, she raced forward.

Thystian looked around, then at the pilot's station. He jolted upon being bumped by Zessta, and swung around to witness her practically rip the face off of the Noxiun. It shrieked, and staggered backward, green gas billowing from its face. It collapsed, and Zessta peered over her shoulder at Thystian, with a smirk. Thystian nodded.

He performed a mighty leap, hammer raised, launching himself toward the pilot's station. The pilot squealed like a little girl and jumped out the back window, smashing through, and fell off the back of the ship. Tocsin watched as Thystian slammed down and struck the station with his mallet, damaging it. Thystian planted a bomb, jumped on his Hoverboard and flew away. At the same time, Tocsin released a trio of plasma orbs. They detonated at the pilot's station, and, coupled with the bomb, the explosion obliterated the back half of the ship. The ship began to crash into the sea of clouds below, where the animals escaped to safety. The group, airborne once again, rushed forth to attack the next dredger.

~~05~~

Nearing the next ship, the group immediately came under fire by huge green orbs of a strange energy. They could see, mounted to the back of the ship at deck height, was a ridable cannon, with a Noxiun piloting it. The Noxiun fired rapidly at the group, the turret firing a shot every second. It swung the cannon about, shooting at the group as they had taken to flying in a spiraling manner to avoid the shots.

Zessta made a mistake, having zigged when she should have zagged, and was struck by an orb. With a hissing shriek, she was knocked out, and began to tumble. Thystian, with a yell, swung down to catch the woman, then swooped toward the deck.

Goldy, having managed to reach the cannoneer first, released his flames at the being. With a scream, the cannoneer attempted to counter attack, ignited. But he was blasted out of the cannon with a huge plasma explosion from Tocsin. The shot ruined the cannon, and the two moved to attack the Noxiuns on the deck.

This ship had what appeared to be a large gate in the middle of the deck's floor, and a set of at least three huge crates scattered about on deck.

Landing, Thystian set Zessta down, and scanned her. Deetria, squealing, swooped down and fired a healing beam from her tail into Zessta. Her injuries and damaged armor restored, but she remained unconscious. Thystian, standing his ground valiantly over Zessta, drew his bow, and opened fire on the approaching Noxiuns.

Goldy yelped, having been slit across the shoulder by a green-glowing sword wielded by a Noxiun, felt poison entering his system. He blasted the Noxiun with his healing beams, and the enemy was disintegrated within a minute. "MEDIC!" Goldy shouted.

Squealing, Deetria hit Goldy with a holy energy bolt. It healed his injury, and cleared the poison. Goldy leapt to avoid a large crescent-shaped blast from a Noxiun wielding a rifle version of the normal guns. The shot possessed an extra length of energy reaching back from the middle of the curve in the crescent-shaped shot, effectively making it look like a curvy "E". Goldy blazed flames at his aggressor.

Atop the pilot's station, a Noxiun armed with a very long-barreled rifle laid on the roof. The pilot watched with fear at the raging battle on its ship. The sniper, peering through a scope with its upper eye, took aim at the unmoving Zessta's head. Suddenly a white glare filled the scope, and the Noxiun opened its other two eyes to see Tocsin's tail in the way. Tocsin, eyes narrowed, blazed flames, blasting the sniper off the roof and off the ship.

Tocsin jolted, having been shot by a crescent bolt from one of the Noxiuns. It leapt with surprising agility, taking aim again. An arrow blasted through its head the next second, and it crashed into the window in front of the pilot's station. The window remained intact, but the pilot shrieked, clutched its chest and started making "herk" noises. It then collapsed. The ship slowly began to drift off to the right.

Deetria quickly healed Tocsin, before swooping to avoid a slashing attack from a Noxiun swordsman. She blasted it in the face with a heavy light blast, and it fell back with a scream. Deetria squealed upon being hit by an explosion, thrusting her up. She whimpered, and Tocsin's eyes narrowed at the sight. A Noxiun armed with a grenade launcher had emerged, and fired another one at Thystian.

Zessta groaned slightly, while Thystian took aim at the grenade and shot it with an explosive arrow, stopping the projectile. The grenadier was subsequently launched off the deck by a fireball from Tocsin, while Goldy, having roasted a few Noxiuns, healed Deetria with his healing beams.

Having defeated many Noxiuns, they heard a loud clattering sound. The gate in the middle of the deck floor suddenly opened, and the group's eyes widened upon seeing a huge, hideous hand reach out of the opening. Out climbed a huge Noxiun. Unlike the rest, which were all an unhealthy thin shape, this Noxiun was bulging with muscular formation, green gas spurting occasionally from cracks in its body, and the tiny fissures that encompassed a normal Noxiun's body were glowing green. Its head split into two horn-like formations after passing the upper eye, and its mouth seemed to reach from end to end on its head. Its arms were just as thin as the rest however, but it had a second pair, and each pair was double-clutching two humongous swords of a horrible jagged appearance.

No one had time to say anything before the Greater Noxiun swung a sword at Deetria, nearly cleaving her in two. She shrieked in terror, rushing to hide behind Tocsin. The swing released a crescent-shaped cloud of green gas. Not needing to be told, Deetria and Tocsin swooped up to avoid this attack. However, another Noxiun, injured by Deetria's light blast, charged and leapt into the cloud. When it passed, the injured Noxiun stood up, fully healed, and grinning. It raised its sword, and leapt at Goldy to attack.

Thystian took aim with his bow, and fired an arrow at the Greater Noxiun's head. It blocked with a sword. It then counter attacked with a swing, just launching the gas at Thystian. It failed to have any effect on his armor as it passed by.

Zessta finally awoke, and looked up. She silently watched as the poison cloud passed over her. She stayed right where she was for the moment.

Goldy blasted away the leaping swordsman Noxiun, before swinging around and blazing flames at the Greater Noxiun. It once again blocked with its swords, before billowing a hideous greenish-black smoke at Goldy. Goldy swept his flames into this attack, and the mixture generated a catastrophic explosion. Goldy flew back far and slammed against the front wall of the raised section. A Noxiun, standing there, armed with a pathetic little pistol looked at him. It spoke, somehow in English, with a voice of hollow evilness, "...How did you survive that?"

Goldy, sitting, his back against the wall, charred, looked at the Noxiun, and replied, "Bluey's experiments make bigger explosions than that."

The Noxiun simply responded, "Oh," before turning and fleeing from the scene.

The incredible blast launched Thystian over the edge of the ship. He plunged over with a scream, and Zessta, shrieking, burst up and shot over the edge after him.

The explosion also effected the Greater Noxiun, who staggered back a few steps, wincing, and snarling. Deetria, catching Tocsin off guard, clung to him, and phased them both out milliseconds before the blast, causing it to pass harmlessly through. They shared a glance at this brief moment of complete safety, and Deetria cooed at Tocsin. Calmed by this, Tocsin was ready to focus more on the attack. Once unphased, the two sped toward the Greater Noxiun. Tocsin immediately discharged plasma energy into the ground, and the next second a spike shot up under the Greater Noxiun, injuring it severely. Deetria, building up holy energy into her tail, discharged a large beam that nailed the beast in the third eye. With a roar, it dropped its two huge swords and clutched its face. Tocsin, seeing this opportunity, fired a plasma orb into the gaping mouth of the pained beast. The blast destroyed its head, and its body detonated the following second, throwing Tocsin and Deetria back.

Deetria quickly clung to Tocsin to heal him. Goldy, getting up, looked over the edge, having seen Thystian fall off. To his delight, Zessta swooped up, carrying Thystian, the two clutching each other's arms. He fired his healing beams at them as they passed over, then swung the beams to Tocsin and Deetria, restoring them.

Heading for the pilot's station, Zessta set Thystian down. The next second he was shot by a small crescent shot from the Noxiun that had fled. It hid behind a crate, firing at the two. Zessta, angered, swooped out to kill the Noxiun, who shrieked and tried to hide. Thystian, meanwhile, drew his mallet, and, shouting something in his native language, turned the big weapon solid red. Upon striking the station, a mighty blast erupted, releasing lava all over the station. Thystian leapt away, and onto his Hoverboard, as the station was devoured by the liquid rock, and destroyed. A blast shook the entire ship, which began to fall. Being ripped apart by the winds and blasts, the ship was destroyed, and the captured animals escaped to freedom.

Having seen that the ship had drifted far from the others, the group, returning to the air and taking formation, headed back for the other three Dredgers. "We're doing GREAT! Don't give out now!" Thystian exclaimed.

"I'm feeling PUMPED!" Goldy responded.

~~06~~

The group could see that the three ships had changed formation, forming a row now with the command ship a bit ahead of the other two. The other two, moving a little faster, had ended their dredging and were attempting to flee.

As the group sped toward them, they shortly came under attack by three cannoneers. The Noxiuns had taken the time to prepare for their attackers it would seem, and the group moved to avoid the shots, flying in spirals. This time, Zessta, angered by having been shot before, raced forward suddenly, engulfing herself in cyclonic energy, which deflected the shots. As soon as she got close, she swung a hand, and a massive cyclone erupted, consuming and shredding one of the cannons.

The ship's pilot spun around at the sounds of the wind, and peered out the back window. He began to quake with fear.

Thystian, making use of this bold action on Zessta's part to distract the cannoneers, flung his mallet at another one. The Noxiun saw at the last second, as the hammer slammed into the turret, destroying it.

The ship's pilot's eyes widened in horror at the sight.

With one left, Tocsin and Deetria approached flying in spiraling manners around each other, before meeting together, Deetria over Tocsin, and firing attacks. Deetria fired a beam of light, to which Tocsin released spiraling plasma flames around it. This was more than enough to obliterate the third cannon.

The ship's pilot's eyes shrank in terror at the sight, green ooze emerging from fissures on his head. That could perhaps be the Noxiun's equivalent to sweat.

Goldy, now free to menace the other Noxiuns, flew about, blazing flames down very much the way any dragon would. He came under heavy return fire, but flew about rapidly, avoiding the attacks. Pistol-users, rifle-users, a sniper on the roof, and a larger Noxiun, wielding the biggest carryable chain-gun-like weapon Goldy had ever seen, sprayed shots at him, yet their aim was pathetic. Goldy blazed flames at them, also roasting the sniper.

The pilot had seen enough. Bumping the control panel as he moved, he fled down a hatch in the pilot's station floor. Moving quickly down the ship, he jumped in a small escape pod, and launched himself out the side of the ship. Thystian's group noticed this immediately, as when the pilot bumped the control panel, the ship lurched to the side and tilted hard, causing all of the Noxiuns on deck to start tumbling and screaming. The ship veered off at a sharp angle down toward the clouds.

Zessta smirked, and the group rejoined, watching as the ship and Noxiuns fell to the clouds, and were destroyed by the winds. The animals broke free at this time too. "Yay! Animals!" Deetria squealed.

"Well would you look at that..." Zessta hissed.

The group looked, and could see the escape pod as it flew. Dark blue fins had broken the cloud surface, and the next second, a Sky Worm, or maybe THE Sky Worm the group had encountered, leapt out, and consumed the escape pod.

Zessta snickered, and Thystian said, "Serves him right for abandoning his crew."

"ONWARD!" Goldy shouted with dedication. The group immediately responded, rushing after the fifth Dredger.

~~07~~

The group was now in serious danger. The fifth dredger had a total of five cannons on its back, and standing on the roof of the dredger were two snipers and a larger Noxiun with chain gun. All of them fired at the group with a blazing storm of shots. Unable to approach, the group swooped about to avoid. Several shots nearly struck the group, one clipping Goldy in the shoulder. He winced. Another shot struck Thystian, but his armor took the brunt.

Deetria suddenly realized what she needed to do. Phasing out once again, she sped for the ship. "DEETRIA!" Tocsin shouted.

Reaching the ship, the cannoneer Noxiuns looked at her, eyes narrowed. Deetria started to squeal, gathering light energy, then released a powerful flare. The Noxiuns screamed, blinded by this. Two of them kept firing, and one swung around, aimed up, and blew the roof-top Noxiuns clean off.

With access wide-open, Thystian rushed down and smashed one cannon, then another. Goldy swooped low, blazing flames and igniting a third, before swinging around to blaze flames at the deck-side Noxiuns. Zessta again used a cyclone to rip away a fourth cannon, and Thystian finished the fifth off with an explosive arrow, before moving around to attack the rest of the crew.

Already amongst the other Noxiuns stood a second Greater Noxiun, armed with a humongous flame thrower. As soon as Thystian arrived, he had to dodge the big green rushes of flame from this big enemy. The crew's number here was massive, at least two dozen or more, all heavily armed with large and powerful weapons.

Goldy swooped about, blazing his flames, igniting many of the Noxiuns. He swung about, attacking, before a shot from a sniper clipped his wing. With a yell, he spiraled down, generating smoke, and crashed into the deck with an explosion. "_Since when could he make like an airplane?_" Tocsin thought.

Tocsin buzzed about, launching fireballs at the crew, while Deetria flew to heal Goldy. The Greater Noxiun blazed its flamethrower at Tocsin, who came to a stop, and absorbed the flames. He sneered at the Greater Noxiun afterwards, and the big enemy looked utterly shocked. Tocsin had gained a green tint. However, instead of discharging the poisonous flames, he released his multicolor flames of great intensity. The Greater Noxiun rolled to avoid.

Zessta screamed, "There'sss too many of them!"

"DO SOMETHING!!" Thystian shouted, Noxiuns practically crawling all over him, armed with nasty bladed weapons.

Zessta, snarling, began to build wind energy, and the wind quickly began to pick up. Her wings fanned wide, and the wind began to swirl around her. Soon the wind was extremely intense, forming a miniature, but perhaps more powerful, hurricane. The ship creaked and groaned under the strain of the winds. This attack, which oddly had no effect on her friends, quickly gathered up and started throwing Noxiuns overboard. The Greater Noxiun clutched the floor with its bendy fingers to hold on.

With the Greater Noxiun distracted, and Thystian freed from the attacking smaller ones, he took out his bow. With computer-assisted aim, he locked on the Greater Noxiun. Zessta, exhausted, could no longer hold the hurricane, and it concluded. The Greater Noxiun, grinning at having survived, stood up, preparing to release flames at Zessta. The next second, an Amethyst Arrow ripped through the behemoth's head. The creature gurgled, and fell to its knees, before crashing onto the deck, causing the whole ship to shake.

Zessta looked at Thystian, who leapt to the Pilot's station, and sighed lovingly.

Only a few Noxiuns remained now, and, terrified at the sight of their trump card being crushed so easily, they fled below deck. Goldy muttered, getting up, and shook his head. Tocsin rushed over, and he, Deetria and Goldy observed as Thystian landed on the upper deck in front of the pilot's station. There, Thystian could see the glow of an energy field, and scanned it. The power source was within, resulting in complete blockout. Inside, the pilot stuck its thumb into its nose hole and wiggled its fingers at Thystian, big grin on its face, green tongue hanging out. Thystian just crossed his arms at the sight, before pulling out four grenades. The pilot stopped making the face, eyes widened. Thystian went around, planting the four grenades on the floor next to the four walls of the pilot station. The pilot began to panic.

Thystian turned and hopped onto his Hoverboard, flying away. He was quickly joined by his friends. As they flew away, he detonated the grenades, destroying the ship's upper deck nearly completely. This included the pilot's station, which was not shielded from below. The ship lurched down into the clouds, breaking up. The various sky animals escaped into the clouds afterwards.

Ahead, the group could see the Command Ship, and Thystian announced, "My scans are telling me that the Magnettosphere is there! Let's go!"

"ONWARD!" Goldy shouted, once again.

"If all your adventuresss are like thisss, then I am DEFINITELY gonna reconsssider traveling with you inssstead of sssettling down!" Zessta exclaimed.

"...ZESSTA!" Thystian shouted.

The others stared.

~~08~~

As the group sped toward the Command Ship, they noticed that it was activating its thrusters, and began to move away from them. Thystian looked at the pilot's station, and could see that the pilot inside was much better dressed than the rest. It frowned at them, deadly serious.

Thystian took aim with his bow, and fired an Amethyst Arrow. The shot was deflected by a barrier, and the pilot did not even flinch. Thystian grunted in frustration, and yelped when the group came under attack by five cannons again. Once again being forced to evade, the group was also unable to catch up to the ship. It stayed the same distance ahead, and the group moved around erratically trying to avoid being hit by the spray of large, green energy orbs.

Deetria, thinking she could do it again, phased, to let the shots pass through, and attempted to catch up to the ship. Yet whenever she got close, it would move just a little faster to keep away. Deetria looked up at the pilot, who was watching her, controlling the ship to keep it just ahead. It again did not do anything other than watch, frowning. Deetria whined, falling back to the group. "How are we gonna get on that thing?!" Goldy yelled, flying past Thystian, fleeing from the shots.

Thystian did not respond. He had since taken out his mallet. He suddenly began to twirl extremely fast, the shots being deflected by his mallet. With a loud roaring grunt, Thystian flung his mallet at one of the large thrusters on the lower back of the ship. The pilot's eyes widened, mouth opening slightly. It gritted its teeth, an eye closed when the whole ship jolted. The hammer, having flown into one of the thrusters, caused a massive explosion, and the ship jumped sharply to the side, throwing scads of Noxiuns off the ship on one side. Once the pilot managed to regain control, the ship violently jumped again, throwing more Noxiuns over the other side. The pilot gritted his teeth, his face in a snarl.

Thystian's mallet flew back to him, and he caught it. No one could see the smirk on his face.

The violent movement of the ship had fouled the aim of the cannoneers, giving the group time to get closer, and with a thruster gone, the pilot could no longer keep always ahead of the group. Before the cannoneers could resume fire, Thystian threw his mallet at one, destroying it. Zessta ripped away a second cannon with another cyclone, while Goldy swooped in on a third, blazing flames to kill the cannoneer. Tocsin, speeding in, eyes narrowed, flew between two that were both shooting at him. They kept firing him as he passed between them. The result was destruction.

Swooping around, Tocsin got to the deck were only half of the original crew remained. As he flew, he was suddenly snatched out of the air. With a yell, he struggled, before looking at his captor. There, he saw a strong-looking Noxiun, though not massive like the Greater Noxiuns. His eyes were a piercing purple. His attire was very formal, and he wore a very unusual hat. He was armed with just a single, small-looking gun. This was clearly the captain. "Har har har! An Albino Dimension Dragon?! Fascinating! You'll be a fine addition to mah collection of creeps 'n' critters!"

"Don't count on it," Tocsin replied, before finally releasing his Poison Flames.

The captain roared, covering his face, blinded by the attack, and released Tocsin. Tocsin fled from the captain, before encountering a grenadier and squaring off with it.

The rest had by now arrived, and began to attack Noxiuns. Deetria first checked to make sure Tocsin was alright, before joining him in the assault. Goldy flew overhead once again, blazing flames. Zessta, deciding to follow Goldy's lead, stayed in the air and produced cyclones to rip away at the ship and crew. They flew erratically, being fired at by many Noxiuns on deck.

Thystian landed with a thud, bow drawn, and stood before the captain. He drew an arrow, and aimed it at the Noxiun. "As a general of NeoSPGXA, I hereby proclaim this illegal dredging operation terminated."

Chuckling, the captain reached into his coat with his free hand. Thystian tensed. Within his helmet, his eyes widened when the Noxiun pulled out a shimmering grey sphere. It seemed to distort the air around it. The captain started lightly tossing the sphere up, and catching it, and replied, "Har har... Not if you're wantin' THIS beauty. I presume this is what you shot down the rest of mah ships lookin' fer?"

"Yes," Thystian replied simply. The captain gasped when Thystian fired the arrow, not at the captain, but at the Magnettosphere. The orb fell to the deck, and rolled along. It was kicked by a Noxiun fleeing Tocsin's flames, rolled along and was bumped by another Noxiun as it backed up, firing at Goldy in the air. It rolled more, and a shudder on the ship launched it toward a hole in the deck with metal plating around it. It slipped down into the shaft, disappearing.

"...ARRRRGGGH!!! YER GONNA PAY FER THAT!!" the captain roared, as he pointed his gun and fired it.

It discharged a huge distortion of green energy that threw Thystian back. The captain began to twirl it, and a whining sound built up within. Thystian slid along the deck, then fired three Amethyst Arrows. They flew out, before curving in on the captain, who jumped and rolled forward to avoid them. He projected his gun at Thystian, who leapt to the side to avoid the distortion, which caused damage to the back wall of the ship. The captain charged his gun again, and leapt to avoid another Amethyst Arrow from Thystian. Thystian suddenly slowed himself down, before drawing and firing five Amethyst Arrows one at a time within a second. The shots screamed at the captain, and he rolled, jumped, rolled, and discharged his gun to repel the fourth. The fifth however ripped through his shoulder and he roared in pain.

By now a good half of the deck was on fire from Goldy's and Tocsin's flames, and Deetria's light beams. The Noxiuns continued to fight back, yet they were dropping like flies from the flames. Every injury the team sustained was quickly healed by either Goldy or Deetria, and the damage aggravated them into attacking harder. They could hear the sound of a gate opening on the deck, and out climbed a Greater Noxiun, carrying two chain guns. Following him was a second Greater Noxiun, wielding a single, enormous sword. "Deetria and I'll take the gunner!" Tocsin shouted.

With nods amongst them, the group split up, charging for their enemies. Deetria opened fire immediately with her light beams and holy shots, damaging the gunner Greater Noxiun. It returned fire with sprays of shots, yet because of their tiny size in comparison, Tocsin and Deetria were very difficult to hit effectively. Not impossible though, as a shot blasted off Deetria, who squealed in pain. Tocsin, enraged, rushed forward and slammed into one of the guns in plasma ball form. The impact damaged the gun, and rendered it useless. The Greater Noxiun snarled, discarding the ruined weapon, and snatched at Tocsin. It roared when a beam of light nailed it in the eye. Tocsin looked, and could see that Deetria had shot the thing right in the eye. She directed her light beams into the other two eyes, blinding the monster. Tocsin, with a fierce expression, released intense multicolor flames onto the Noxiun, igniting it. The flames quickly ate away at the creature, which roared and ran blindly, crashing into other Noxiuns, a crate, and finally falling clean over the edge of the ship, to its death. Deetria, still ok, flew to Tocsin, and asked, "I've been meaning to ask you... What do you call that pretty fire attack?"

"Super Disco Inferno," Tocsin replied.

Deetria was quiet, then started giggling, then laughing. Tocsin was silent, embarrassed.

"What do you get when you cross fire with wind?" Goldy asked Zessta as they swooped around, frantically avoiding the deadly sword swings of the Greater Noxiun.

"I give up. What?" she replied.

"Fire Tornado!" Goldy shouted.

Zessta developed a wicked grin, before she started a cyclone of wind up around the Greater Noxiun. It yelped, then burst into screams when Goldy released flames into the cyclone. The intense blazing whirlwind was more than enough to finish the enormous beast off.

"The bigger they are, the harder they fall..." Zessta commented.

"Right on," Goldy replied.

The deck was now a good two-thirds on fire, and some of the crates had exploded violently. Thystian was slammed against the wall by another green energy discharge. He growled, armor damaged by the attacks, while the captain too was injured. They stood, glaring at each other. With snarls, they rushed forward to attempt an attack point blank of their ranged weapons. Their charge however was aborted when a rogue explosion rocked the deck. "WASN'T ME!" Goldy shouted from wherever he was.

Another Noxiun climbed out of a door in the floor of the deck, and screamed, "KITCHEN FIRE!! KITCHEN FIRE!! IT HIT A GAS LINE!"

Another explosion from the shaft launched the Noxiun overboard, and a chunk of the ship was blown out, causing the entire thing to rock hard. By now, Noxiuns were abandoning ship, and Thystian's friends swooped in to surround the captain. The captain slowly looked around himself at his enemies, growling. He suddenly swung around and released a discharge from his gun, launching Deetria. Tocsin blasted him with flames immediately after, and Goldy joined in. Zessta swooped in to snatch the gun from the captain's hand, and he snarled, grabbing her wrist and slamming her into the deck. He attempted a stomp to her chest, but her armor took the brunt. She exhaled, blowing him into the air, where he was pummeled by holy energy bolts from Deetria, as she swooped back in, squealing. Seeing an opportunity, Thystian rushed past the group, and to the shaft that the Magnettosphere had fallen into.

He came to a stop, and peered down into the shaft. Too dark to see the bottom, Thystian muttered, before hopping in. With a disgusting noise, he landed in a pile of trash within the shaft. "UGH!" he grunted. He then muttered angrily as he began to dig for the Magnettosphere. A ship-rocking explosion caused him to stagger and bash against a window in the pit. There, he could see the most bored-looking Noxiun ever. It seemed to be reading a strange book, though it looked up when Thystian hit the window. The Noxiun slowly developed an evil grin, and reached to poke a button. A grinding sound was heard, and Thystian felt the trash begin to shake. The sounds of shredding then started, and Thystian panicked, realizing the shaft must have been a trash shredder. The Noxiun watched with eager anticipation. Thystian, scrambling about, tripped over the Magnettosphere. He grabbed it immediately, and stored it. He started making jumping attempts to escape the pit, but each time he landed, he sank deeper into the garbage and could feel their height decreasing from the shredder. Shortly, he could feel the shredder directly below him. He screamed.

The captain blasted Goldy away with a discharge, while Zessta looked back at the shaft, hearing Thystian's scream. Eyes wide, she held out a hand. Within the shaft, Thystian was suddenly scooped up by a whirlwind and thrown out of the shaft. He landed on deck, and held still for a minute. The Noxiun in the shredder control room started to throw a fit. It fell over when the ship rocked again. Standing up, it sighed, and resumed reading its book.

The captain ran by, fleeing from the flames of an angry Tocsin. Thystian stood up, and Zessta quickly slithered over to him, a worried expression. She put an arm around behind him and pressed her other hand against his chest. Thystian looked at Zessta and said, "Thank you... That was too close..."

She smiled, nodded, and rested her head against his shoulder. He went silent, now equipping the Magnettosphere to his mallet. The weapon gained the same air-distorting effects as the sphere itself. "I'm gonna give him a taste of magnetically-enhanced mallet..." he said, determined.

Zessta grinned and released Thystian, who charged toward the captain, yelling. Tocsin swerved away, as Thystian slammed his mallet against the captain. The effect was as powerful as the captain's discharging gun, and threw him back far. He got to his feet slowly, growling, gas leaking from wounds all about his body. His eyes widened when Thystian came flying through the air and smashed his mallet down on the deck at the captain's feet. The magnetic discharge launched the captain over the side of the ship. With a yell, the captain snagged the side of the ship, and hung on. He looked down, then back up, at Thystian as he loomed over him. "Arr... You're definitely a great fighter indeed... I concede defeat... Please help me..."

Thystian remained looming. "Argh! You're a hero! Heroes help th' imperiled!" the captain exclaimed.

Thystian slowly knelt, but did not take the captain's hand just yet. "I'll... turn mahself in to th' Nebula... Mah ship's gone anyway... Just... please help..."

Thystian lowered his head, and sighed. "DON'T DO IT!" Goldy shouted from where he stood.

Thystian reached out, and took the hand of the captain. The captain's honest face darkened, his smile turning into a wicked grin. "I kin always count on yer kind to be stupid..."

The captain yanked Thystian, pulling him over the side of the ship, the two both falling away. "THYSSSTIAN!!" Zessta screeched.

"I told him not to do it..." Goldy added.

The others rushed to the edge of the ship and peered over. There, floating in the air, clinging to his mallet, was Thystian. The mallet, still producing the air-distortion, was being held in the air by the Magnettosphere. Thystian clung to the handle, while the Noxiun captain clung to his left leg. Thystian looked down at the captain, and the captain could almost feel the dagger glare. Thystian promptly kicked the Noxiun in the face with his free leg. With a grunt, the captain clung tightly, but Thystian kicked him again. After two more kicks, the captain could no longer hold on. "CUUURRRSSSEEE YOOOUUU!!!" he shouted, falling into the clouds and disappearing.

A violent quake rocked the entire ship. Zessta looked back, seeing a huge explosion rise from the pilot's station. "Thyssstian, get up here quickly ssso you can get on your Hoverboard! Hurry!"

Climbing up the mallet, Thystian carefully stood on the head of the weapon, before leaping, and landing on his Hoverboard. The mallet returned to him. "Off the ship! Now!" he yelled. The group swooped up, taking to the air to join Thystian, and they fell silent, watching the huge ship fall toward the clouds, exploding violently, large portions of it breaking off. At the last second, an escape pod rocketed off in another direction, unseen by the group.

~~09~~

"Where are we?" Tocsin asked. Deetria stayed close, having to catch her breath from the intense and long-winded battle.

Thystian, using his binoculars, scoured the surrounding skies. He was silent, and the group grew worried. "We're lost, aren't we?" Goldy asked.

Thystian stopped panning after a second, focusing in a direction. "No... There... I see a SkyStation that way... We must've traveled a long distance during that fight... Follow my lead!"

Thystian put his viewing tool away, and rushed onward. The group followed, eager to get off their wings and onto some solid ground.

The time passed, and the group had no encounters with Sky Worms, thankfully. Soon they could see the strange, hourglass-shaped structure ahead. Docked at it were a pair of large star ships of completely alien design.

When they arrived, Tocsin looked around, surprised by the fact that the structure was made of wood-like materials. They had landed on a small dock that reached out some distance from the main station. It was apparently serving as an access dock for sky ships. As soon as the group landed, Goldy dropped to the floor and kissed it multiple times. "GROUND! Oh sweet ground how I missed you," he exclaimed.

"Is everyone alright..?" Thystian asked, facing the group.

"That was scary... But I'm so glad we were able to save all of those animals!" Deetria squealed.

"We made it out alive. That's all that counts," Tocsin stated.

"Actually no. Thystian managed to get the fourth element he needed too!" Goldy exclaimed.

Thystian held up the Magnettosphere, having removed it from his mallet. The others cheered, and Thystian stored it. "Now... Rest... This station auto-provides a mapping system to visitors with my kind of suit. Let's take a break at their rest lounge..." Thystian said.

The others, eager for a break, did so. Thystian lead them down the dock, toward the lounge.

~~10~~

The rest area they had arrived at was set up like a hotel lobby lounge, on the side of the floating station. Decorated with furniture and plants, it had a wide opening to the sky where one wall normally would be. A large support wall did shield some of it, but the rest was open, providing a clear view of the wide sky, wind rushing through. Thystian also noticed a special platform, with two energy orbs floating at two of its four corners. The platform had strange runic markings all over it. This, as Thystian stated to the others, was a Waypoint, used for warping to other Waypoints in other locations or even on other planets.

Goldy had curled up on the floor to give his wings a rest, while Deetria flitted about some flowers that were set up for display. Tocsin watched, sitting on the back of a chair, and sighed. Thystian and Zessta had moved to a private spot behind the wall, where there was a thin walkway before the floor ended in open nothingness.

"No. No no no! Don't you dare!" Zessta hissed, wrapped around Thystian again.

"Zessta, LISTEN! Listen... And stop squeezing. You're damaging my suit!" Thystian exclaimed.

"I don't care! I'm not letting you get away again!" Zessta hissed.

"Zessta, you'll DIE if you go to the next planet we're heading to!" Thystian shouted. The wind prevented the others from hearing them however.

Zessta stopped hissing, and looked at Thystian. He continued, "Zessta... We have to go to FroreAqueaous next... As a reptile that needs warmth, you won't last five minutes on that planet... I simply CAN'T let you go with us there... Please understand Zessta. You helped us a LOT in this long-ass mission, but... I promised I would return to you, and I can't do that if you're dead."

Zessta eased her grip, peering at Thystian's helmeted face. "Thyssstian..." she said sadly.

"Zessta, I swear... When this mission is over... When I get Goldy and Tocsin home, I will come back for you. I will take a leave of absence, and come straight to Gravairna. You said you were keen to join me in my missions, so maybe we could do that instead," he said, quietly.

"...I alwaysss knew you loved me..." Zessta said softly. Reaching back, she disconnected his helmet once again, and he removed hers.

~~11~~

"WHEEH!" Deetria squealed, chasing butterflies around the flowers.

Tocsin watched as she did so, and Goldy got up. "They've been back there for, like, thirty minutes... What are they doing, watching a TV program or something?"

"Somehow... I don't think that's what they're doing, Goldy," Tocsin replied.

Goldy, who was about to go check on them, stopped, and looked back at Tocsin with an expression of dread. "Maybe she ate him?!"

Tocsin brought a wing to his face in frustration. The group looked as Thystian and Zessta returned, his helmet on, and her expression calm. "Our mission on Gravairna is complete. I'd like to warn you all though, the next planet we're going to is a cold one..." Thystian warning.

"...Crap..." Tocsin muttered.

Deetria drifted over next to Tocsin, and looked at Thystian. He continued, "As a result, I'm afraid Zessta's going to have to stay here."

"Aww..." Deetria said, flying over to Zessta, "I'm gonna miss you Zessta! It was fun working with you!"

Zessta smiled, and tickled Deetria's chin. She giggled. "How are we gonna get there though?" Goldy asked.

"With that," Thystian said, pointing to the Waypoint. "I have the destination on my list of available targets. Have you had a chance to rest up enough?"

"Yeah," Tocsin replied.

Goldy too nodded. Deetria landed on Zessta's head, and peered down at her.

Thystian lead the group to stand within the ring of runic symbols on the Waypoint, and they all looked at Zessta, who stayed off. Thystian spoke quietly, "...I'm sorry we're going to have to separate again, Zessta, but I'll keep my promise. I'll come back."

"You better, or elssse I'll hunt you down myssself," Zessta replied, with a smirk.

Thystian just nodded. "Bye bye Zessta!" Deetria squealed, a hint of sadness in her voice.

Tocsin nodded at her, and Goldy waved, exclaiming, "See you! Say bye to Adelline for me!"

Zessta gained a curious glint in her eye at this request. Goldy then looked at Thystian, who had a collection of transparent panels in front of him. He called up a menu, selected the destination, and pressed his finger through the symbol. Goldy asked, "Is that your girlfrie-"

With a quick warping sound, the group disappeared.

Zessta stood there, silent. With a soft, sad hiss, she said, to where Goldy was, "Yesss... I am Thyssstian'sss girlfriend..."

A tear formed in her eye, and she quickly wiped it away, before slithering off, heading for a food court.

END

Dragon Tails © Tim Dawson

Wenonah Galaxy © Adrian Smith


	10. 10: Frozen Abyss

Roseus Elementeus

Chapter Ten – Frozen Abyss

~~00~~

FroreAqueaous, a cold world indeed. Thystian did not exaggerate the low temperatures of this world. A chilling wind howled low. The sound of ultrafrigid water echoed as it lapped against the land they were to arrive on echoed. Creaking and groaning of ice from the surrounding glaciers filled the air. The sky was black, displaying a glorious panorama of stars. This planet, far from the star of Mynurvah, was an arctic ocean world.

There, in a section of flat, open, deep pink ground of stone, a Waypoint sat. On nearly all sides, but for one, the land ended after several feet, dropping into black, deadly cold water. A low moan of wind could be heard, different from the rest. Ahead, the land widened dramatically, but also rose into sharp ridges. And between these two substantial ridges, was a gorge. As far as the eye could see, this gorge stretched on, keeping the two high ridges of deep pink stone separate from each other. Peering into the gorge, which sloped sharply downward from the start, one could see that, many feet below, a blanket of shimmering, whitish-grey fog wafted gently about. It almost seemed to sparkle in reflection of the stars above. It stretched on as far as the eye could see in the gorge.

With a quick warping sound, the group appeared on the Waypoint. "-nd, Thystia– YOW!!" Goldy finished.

"...AUGH!!" Tocsin immediately shouted.

Deetria squealed in surprise. Thystian stood silent, the chilling wind howling past the group. "So cold... So cold!" Deetria squealed.

"Welcome to FroreAqueaous, the Arctic Ocean planet, my friends," Thystian said quietly, stepping off the Waypoint.

Goldy had already wrapped his arms around himself, and shuddered. "WHY didn't you warn us?!" he shouted.

Thystian looked at Goldy and said, "I'm sorry... I should have, but it kinda slipped my mind, what with Zessta being the way she was."

Deetria looked at Tocsin, who was already shivering badly from the cold. She looked upset, as Tocsin already looked as though he was beginning to suffer from it. "Yeah, nice mind slip there, genius!" Tocsin ripped.

"Tocsin..." Deetria said softly.

Tocsin looked at her, shivering. Deetria approached, bringing her face close, and said quietly, "I'll keep you warm, Tocsin."

Thystian and Goldy observed as Deetria moved to settle on Tocsin's back. She then wrapped her tail around his, then twined her neck around his, her body resting on top. Tocsin's eyes widened, feeling warmth already, though at first it may have been out of embarrassment. Goldy smiled at the sight. "And the two become as one," Thystian commented.

The two indeed did seem to have become as one. Perhaps something of a two-headed dragon now, as Deetria and Tocsin shared their warmth. Tocsin quickly stopped shivering. Deetria cooed.

Thystian then turned, gesturing out to the huge, endless gorge ahead, and spoke, "This, is BoneChill Gorge. It stretches for several miles. We need to get through it, as the next element is at a facility at the other end. See these purple stones around us? It is ShimmerStone. It carries latent mystical properties that can only be extracted through refinement. That's the next item on my list. With it, we'll only have one more destination, and I'll finally have all of the elements NeoSPGXA needs at this time."

"How are we gonna get through it?" Deetria asked, resting the side of her face against Tocsin's.

Thystian replied, "We'll have to fly through, over that fog. We must NOT expose ourselves to the fog in that ridge. It's Freezing Fog, and it'll kill in less than five minutes if you get into it. We're not sure, but research has suggested it may be a gaseous nitrogen compound that lowers temperatures even more than they already are."

Tocsin shuddered at the thought. Goldy, an eye ridge arched, asked, "Why should we fly THROUGH the gorge, and not over it?"

Thystian answered, "The winds over the gorge are ferocious... You thought those storm winds on Domargomka'Irysme were bad? Well hear that howling ahead? That's the wind, and it'll launch you into the deadly-cold waters around this huge island if you try to fly over it."

Goldy sighed, shivering a little. Tocsin and Deetria were distracted with each other at the moment, though they were listening it seemed.

"I wanted to ask you, also, how did you get your Hoverboard to actually fly?" Goldy asked, looking up and around at the sunless sky.

"I modified it to react to Gravairna's core's magnetic energies. It became like a super-tiny island as a result," Thystian explained, now tweaking said Hoverboard again.

"Ahhh..." Goldy replied.

He flexed his wings, which were still tired from all the flying he had to do just a few minutes ago. He reached into the Spilievern Pouch, and took out more Energy Seeds, eating a few. He whooped at the effect, and his wings flexed out, looking strong again. "Man, I'm loving these things..." Goldy commented with a grin.

Thystian worked a bit more to set his Hoverboard up, and Deetria giggled, nuzzling the side of Tocsin's face. "...So this is what it feels like to be a twin-headed dragon..." Tocsin said.

Deetria giggled. She looked at Thystian and asked, "You never answered Goldy's question about Zessta! Is she your girlfriend, Thystian?"

Thystian stopped what he was doing, then shortly resumed, quiet for the moment. Everyone ended up looking at him. He finished his modifications, and lowered the Hoverboard in front of him. He looked at them, and replied, "Yes. We go way back. Way, way, way back. We're both older than you realize. It's been something of an on-and-off relationship because we just couldn't see eye-to-eye. I've got work, she just wants to start a family or something. On top of that, she's got this strange delusion that Savanna and I are a thing when that couldn't be farther from the truth."

"You sound like you're unsure about your feelings for her," Goldy replied, now peering out at the Gorge. He could see the fog, which was settled in about mid-way down from the top of the ridges, as it slowly waved about, and a section seemed to splash up from a gust of curling wind.

"She's a dominator... While you guys were doing things, she twice nearly crushed my suit with her body when she got upset at me for my trying to focus on my job... She's lovely, as far as a Spilievern goes, and she's honest and dedicated, but she may just be a tad obsessive and, fitting for her species, aggressive..." Thystian said, quietly. He stepped onto his Hoverboard.

"She's nice... But she was a little scary when she started fighting," Deetria noted.

"I can't see it working anyway," Tocsin remarked.

"I can..." Goldy said, looking off to the side.

They all looked at him, and Tocsin said, "What WAS that 'Say bye to Adelline for me' line anyway?"

Goldy just developed an annoyed look. Deetria "ooo"ed, started to giggle and said, "Two reptiles! I see what you did there!"

Goldy quickly shifted the subject away, "We gonna stand here and freeze to death or are we gonna get goin'?!"

"We're gonna get goin'," Thystian replied, "Remember, stay away from the fog. Only get close to it if you absolutely have to. The closer you get, the more damage you'll take from the cold."

Everyone nodded. Thystian turned, on his Hoverboard, and swooped over the entrance of the gorge, diving down. His board "landed" a few feet over the fog, and he started skimming over it. Goldy ran forward and jumped to fly, while Deetria & Tocsin, acting as one, flew to follow.

~~01~~

Picking up speed, the group could feel themselves feeling heat from their own bodies building, and the cold air actually began to feel comforting slightly. "Hah! The cold air will make it EASIER for me to fly!" Goldy exclaimed.

"Don't get too confident! We've got to make time here, as every minute we spend we're slowly losing health to the fog below! Just follow my lead and avoid obstacles!" Thystian responded.

The group sped along through the gorge, the walls flying past. It was narrow somewhat, and Tocsin looked down. He could not see the ground beneath the fog anymore just a few minutes into the flight.

The gorge veered to the right slightly, and the group followed. Thystian seemed to "surf" the fog, rising and falling over the surface of the deadly gas as it waved and wafted about below them. A loud howl of wind blew past the group, slowing them slightly, and a wave of the fog rose up before them. Thystian surfed up the side of the fog, finding an opening to break through. Tocsin & Deetria and Goldy followed through immediately after, Goldy taking the rear again.

The gorge shifted to the left, straightening, then curving slightly. The fog splashed up toward Goldy after Thystian passed a section. He swung to the side to avoid, with a serious expression on his face.

The gorge began to narrow additionally, and they could see sticking out of the fog a large, jagged spike of stone. Thystian swooped past the spike, the others following behind. Thystian immediately had to swing to the right and back forward again to avoid a second oncoming shaft. Tocsin & Deetria kept going to the left and passed on the out side of the stone, while Goldy nearly grazed his side on the stone swinging to follow Thystian.

The group sped onward, and another gust of wind forced the fog to rise up behind the group in a pursuing wave. Goldy sped up with a yelp, and caught up to Tocsin & Deetria. They moved forward until the fog wave receded back into the fog below.

Ahead, a large stone arch reached across the thinned gorge. Thystian, surfing the fog, ignored it, passing under it. Tocsin & Deetria and Goldy flew a little lower to get under it, the wind roaring above. Goldy could feel a tingle on his belly, and noticed that his slight increase in proximity to the fog was the cause. He moved away quickly upon passing the arch.

A gust of wind forced a section of the fog below up toward the group on one side of the gorge, while the other side sank lower. To evade, Tocsin & Deetria, followed by Goldy, flew closer to the wall in the lowered area of fog, then moved away and up to avoid as it returned to normal.

The wind howled, and the gorge shifted to the left more, in a slight curve. Ahead a second arch was drawing close, and it was very large. Thystian, seeing it coming, ducked to avoid hitting his head. Tocsin & Deetria and Goldy were forced to fly low, dangerously close to the fog. Goldy felt a stinging sensation, and Tocsin & Deetria too felt a pain of cold. Tocsin narrowed his eyes, trying to keep his warmth up, and was calmed slightly when Deetria stroked the side of her face against the side of his. "We'll make it through..." she whispered.

Tocsin slowly nodded his head, and he & Deetria, and Goldy, moved away from the fog quickly as soon as they flew out from under the arch. Immediately ahead, three spikes were oncoming, and Thystian swung between the left and middle. Tocsin & Deetria followed, while Goldy swung to the side between the middle and the right.

A low groan from a gorge wall could be heard, the creaking of ice echoing through the ravine. Goldy looked in the direction of the noise nervously.

The gorge was beginning to widen out a bit again. A heavy gust of wind blew through, distorting the fog, throwing up a large wave that engulfed the right half of the gorge pathway. Tocsin & Deetria swung hard to the left to avoid, Goldy following. He almost grazed the wave, and felt the stinging cold nip at him.

The group, Thystian surfing the fog ahead, had to forcibly swing to the right, as a second immediate wave blew through, engulfing the left half of the gorge pathway. "Man, it's like it's TRYING to get us!" Goldy shouted.

"Stay the course!" Thystian responded.

Deetria kept tight against Tocsin as the two followed quickly. Another groan from the wall, and far in the distance the sky appeared to be developing grey clouds. The gorge was still widening, and suddenly, out of the darkness ahead, a fork in the huge path appeared.

Thystian held to the middle, suddenly afflicted by a bout of indecision. Tocsin & Deetria drew close, off center behind Thystian to the right. Goldy drew near from behind as well, more to the left. "Which way Thystian?!" Tocsin exclaimed.

Thystian stammered, unable to make up his mind, and they sped toward the fork quickly, the chilling wind howling. "...Which way?! ...WHICH WAY?! WHICH WAY WHICH WAY WHICH WAY?!" Tocsin screamed as they came upon the fork.

Thystian yelled, swooping off to the left at the last second. Tocsin & Deetria, unable to make the turn, were forced down the right path, while Goldy followed to the left.

"ARGH!!!" Tocsin yelled, aggravated.

"It's ok Tocsin! Let's just keep going forward!" Deetria squealed.

Tocsin fell silent, the two speeding onward.

"CRAP!" Thystian yelled at the other side, "I hate it when that happens to me!"

"Does that path meet back up?!" Goldy yelled back.

"I HOPE so!" Thystian replied, yelling over the wind.

~~02~~

Tocsin & Deetria, flying as one, sped onward through the path they'd ended up in. It had curved to the right, then straightened, before narrowing ahead, the fog squeezed between the two walls. Tocsin & Deetria flew higher to keep away from it, then had to swoop up, then down, to avoid a pair of stones resting between the two walls. "Deetria..." Tocsin spoke, quietly, as they flew.

"Yes Tocsin?" she replied, looking at him, her feather flapping in the freezing wind.

The path widened out again, and a gust of wind generated a hump in the fog. The two shot up to avoid, and were nearly grabbed by the winds over the ridges. They slipped free, flying back to steady air as the course shifted to the left suddenly.

"...Tocsin?" Deetria called, quietly.

"Deetria, I... want to thank you for this warmth sharing," Tocsin said, speeding along with her.

Nuzzling Tocsin's cheek, Deetria replied, "You're welcome Tocsin. You've done so many things for me... I want to do things for you too to make up for it!"

Tocsin looked at Deetria, and replied, "You don't have to make up for anything. We're together now."

Deetria's expression was warm, and the two felt a strong warmth between them. At least until a freezing gust of wind blasted through, throwing them hard toward the left wall. They cried out, struggling against the wind, and a rise in the fog nearly engulfed them before they were able to swoop back, tilted completely vertical, before doing a barrel roll to straighten back out. Tocsin muttered, until Deetria rested her head on his. They sped onward through the gorge.

Quickly they flew past a spike of stone reaching out of the fog. And another groan was heard from a wall. Deetria looked up, and could see what looked like water blasting up at the top of the wall. She grew worried, and looked forward. The two swooped to avoid another wave of fog before them.

They heard a loud crash. Looking in the direction of the noise, the two could see that a section of the right wall above them had broken loose, massive deep pink stones falling toward them at high speed. Tocsin nearly panicked, but Deetria cooed softly, phasing herself and Tocsin out. They moved forward, and the boulders shot through them harmlessly, splashing the fog up as they did.

Despite being phased, the two could still feel the stinging cold of the fog when it drew close. This warned Deetria that her phasing would not protect them if they were to enter the fog. They returned to normal, and Deetria whimpered slightly.

"Steady Deetria..." Tocsin said quietly.

The two held close, and sped onward, the path widening slightly, and turning to the left still more.

Upon passing two more spikes, and flying under an arch, out of the darkness ahead a wide cavern entrance suddenly came into view. Deetria squeaked at the sight in surprise. "Are we gonna enter that?" she squealed.

"I don't think we have a choice!" Tocsin replied, observing that the roof of the cave was above the ridges, suggesting intense winds were up there.

Tocsin noticed something else. Some kind of strange bird-like creature was perched at the edge of the roof. Its body was a shimmering blue, almost like that of ice, and it had a huge beak and leathery wings. It looked like a pterodactyl made of ice. As the two shot past, entering the cave, the bird watched them go with its piercing blue eyes, and emitted a shrill, echoing squawk.

The ceiling remained steady, this cave was pitch black. They could not see very far ahead now, though the fog seemed to faintly shimmer below them. Deetria grew nervous, unable to see far enough ahead.

Strange squawks echoed from the fog far below. They heard a creaking of ice, but the wind had since stopped completely. The fog hovered steadily, as did the ceiling.

Suddenly, out of the blackness, a column reaching from the ceiling into the icy fog appeared within view, right before them. With yells they swerved to the left to avoid it. Shortly after, a second column entered their view. They moved again to the left, getting close to the wall. Slowly, the ceiling became lower, and they drifted closer to the center. They both yelled out again when a stalactite came into view. They shot to the right to avoid, but Deetria struck her upper left wing on it as they passed. She squealed in pain, then whimpered. Tocsin moved to keep his head against hers, in an effort to calm her. She lowered her injured wing against her lower left wing to rest it.

More icy squawking noises could be heard from below. Tocsin was growing nervous at the sound of them.

He then noticed that the ceiling above was dangerously close to them. They began to lower their height in the air. They grew steadily more nervous as the ceiling became lower and lower, sinking closer and closer to the deadly freezing fog below. The cave shifted to the right slightly, and a column stood out of the darkness ahead. They shifted hard to the left to avoid, then centered again.

Deetria whimpered more at the sight that the ceiling was still lower. She began to plead, "Please don't go into the fog... Please don't go into the fog..." and whimpered more.

Tocsin glanced at her, a worried expression, as they flew onward. Another icy squawk was heard from below.

They were now nearly skimming the surface of the freezing fog, the ceiling immediately above them, its rough surface forcing them to swoop and swerve to avoid lumps in the ceiling. The fog was almost snapping at them, the pain from the cold strong. "It... hurts..." Deetria cried.

Tocsin, eyes narrowed, began to release plasma energy around himself, effecting Deetria too. This seemed to push the fog away a little, and stopped the pain briefly. Deetria held tight against Tocsin as the two flew as one.

A spike broke into the darkness ahead, and they shifted hard to the left to avoid it. Another squawk echoed from below. "What IS that?!" Deetria squealed, afraid.

"I saw some kind of ice bird when we entered the cave... Considering I'm hearing a lot of those, I get this bad feeling we may have entered a nest for them or something..." Tocsin said, quietly.

Deetria just whimpered more. She stopped however, when the ceiling began to rise rather fast. Very eager to get away from the fog, the two rose with the ceiling quickly, and soon the biting cold stopped. Deetria held her head against Tocsin's, closing her eyes for a minute. "Does your wing still hurt?" Tocsin asked.

Deetria, opening her eyes, replied, "I can't feel it any more..."

Tocsin immediately looked back, and could see that her normally glowing pink wing was a deeper pink color now, with no glow. He developed a terrified expression, realizing that her wing may have been broken by the impact.

They sped onward, beginning to see a faint light ahead. However, at the same time, they heard several icy squawks from behind. Looking back, Tocsin saw three of the icy birds burst out of the fog, in hot pursuit of them. He could see more clearly that their beaks looked like icicles, their wing bones and the talons of their four-toed feet all looked like icicles as well. One of them opened its beak as it squawked, showing that the beak seemed serrated like a saw edge along its ridges. Tocsin's eyes narrowed, and he and Deetria moved to speed up and get away.

The birds, steadily flapping their large, frosty wings, kept up easily however. They drew near, and one snapped viciously at the two. With a squeal from Deetria, they moved hard to the right to avoid. Another bird swooped up, attempting to skewer them with its sharp beak, but they evaded again, twirling in the air. Yet another snap attack from one of the birds, as it flew past them, getting ahead.

Angered by these attacks, Tocsin fired a plasma ball. It caught up to the bird ahead of them, then detonated. The blast instantly shattered the icy creature, and the ice fell back toward them as they flew. Tocsin closed an eye as they attempted to avoid the icy spikes. Two of his wings were hit by the icy spikes, and one struck Deetria's injured wing. She shrieked loudly, and started to cry. Tocsin yelled out in anger at this, and pushed himself to fly faster with Deetria and get ahead.

The light growing steadily brighter, they suddenly flew out the exit of the cave, back into the gorge. Tocsin pressed his head against Deetria and shushed her softly, trying to get her to stop crying.

Many squawks could be heard behind, and with a glance back, Tocsin could see dozens of the birds now bursting out of the fog, after the two little ones. He looked ahead, and could see that it looked as though the path they were currently on was converging with another path. "Man, I hope that's the path Thystian and Goldy took! We need Goldy NOW!"

Deetria tried to stop herself from crying, wanting to be tougher, but the pain in her wing was intense now that the damaged nerves had been shaken awake.

~~03~~

"Stupid stupid stupid!" Thystian yelled, angry at himself for his last-second decision.

"YOU need to be told to stay the course now, Thystian!" Goldy shouted.

The two sped onward through the gorge, which seemed to zigzag left, right, left and right. Thystian nearly smashed into a spike reaching out of the fog after a third turn, while Goldy, a short distance behind him, buzzed on through, his wings droning like a huge bumble bee's.

"How's your armor handling that cold so close to the fog?!" Gold yelled, keeping track of Thystian as he lead.

"Barely!" Thystian replied, keeping a sharp eye on his suit's H.U.D.'s Hazard Damage Buffer meter. It was just below the unlit exclamation mark, which, if it was lit, told Thystian his suit was taking damage from the environment.

As the two moved, a heavy gust of wind caused the fog below to start undulating. Thystian rose and fell and rose and fell over the fog, then flew through the air momentarily on a higher hill in the fog, before surfing up the side of a wave of it before him.

"INCOMING!" Goldy screamed. Thystian swung hard to the left at the response, narrowly avoiding a strange, square-shaped column that almost looked polished, and shimmered slightly. Goldy looked back at it as he buzzed past, then forward again with a very confused look.

In the distance ahead, the sky was steadily growing darker. "What was THAT?" Goldy yelled, remarking about the column.

"Those things are a complete mystery! Research is inconclusive on their origin..." Thystian replied, seeing more of the columns ahead, and mixed with spikes no less.

Thystian narrowly evaded these obstacles protruding from the fog, while Goldy more precariously swooped around them, nearly clipping a wing on a column as he came within millimeters of hitting it. He still felt it blow past, and yelped in surprise, reacting with a sharp turn that nearly caused him to slam into another column. With screaming, he swung about and about in the air in an out-of-control manner, coming within inches of hitting several columns. He heard a loud scrape, and saw sparks flash. Looking down, he saw that one of Thystian's Hoverboard arms was sparking hard.

Thystian yelled out, swooping more, still in control fortunately. The Hoverboard's arm slowly stopped sparking, the platform auto-repairing itself. Goldy exhaled, fearing that Thystian was going to wreck.

The two moved onward, exiting the massive batch of obstacles, as the path slowly curved to the right.

More columns, forming a row across the gorge, came into view ahead, but between one of them and the wall was some kind of shimmering, blue net. Resting at the top right corner, was what appeared to be a really massive spider, shimmering blue much like it's web.

"WHAT?!" Goldy shouted simply.

"FroreSpider! Watch the webs!" Thystian yelled back.

"I can NOT believe creatures LIVE here!" Goldy responded.

Thystian drew his mallet, but the two passed between two of the columns harmlessly. The FroreSpider, resting on its web, passively observed them fly by. The path shifted more to the right now, and more columns drew close. This time there were two webs, between the left wall and a column and between the right wall and a column. Again however, they passed safely between them. However, immediately ahead were a pair of columns side-by-side in the gorge, and a web between them, directly in Thystian's path. With a yell, Thystian raised his mallet and swung it out as soon as he reached the web. With an icy shattering impact, the web was blasted to pieces, and the two passed between. The FroreSpider had taken to the top of a column, and watched them go by.

The path narrowed somewhat as they flew continuously. Ahead a really large web reached across the gap. Thystian threw his mallet forward forcefully, the heavy projectile again shattering the dangerous trap. The spider squealed as they passed by. Goldy looked back with a surprised look as the spider bounced up and down on the ridge, hopping mad. Goldy grinned, looking forward, and yelled out, seeing one of the icy birds suddenly burst out of the fog behind Thystian, and clamp its beak on his head.

Thystian yelled out, struggling to keep his balance on the board. The bird jerked him a bit, then brought its talons forward to claw at Thystian's back. Thystian was close to falling of his board, struggling to help himself. With a downward swoop, Goldy blazed flames at the icy bird. It let go of Thystian, shrieking, and fell into the fog, half melted. "WHAT WAS THAT?!" Thystian yelled.

"Some kind of icy pterodactyl! This place is FULL of critters!" Goldy yelled.

"Crap! I forgot about the Arcteradours! They're gonna be a serious nuisance!" Thystian remarked.

The sounds of more squawking could now be heard, and Thystian readied his mallet. Goldy sped up a bit to get closer to Thystian. Shortly, four more Arcteradours burst from the fog, squawking. One immediately snapped at Goldy's tail, but he jumped to the left to avoid the attack. Ahead, a single column could be seen, and attached between it and the right wall was a web. Thystian swerved to avoid entirely, followed by Goldy and the four Arcteradours. The spider casually watched them pass.

Goldy blazed flames back at the birds, which scattered to avoid, before swinging back in to keep up the chase. Goldy looked ahead, and saw a wave of the fog rise up. Thystian surfed up it, and Goldy moved quickly up and over. He looked back again and watched as the birds simply flew through the wave, uneffected.

"Incoming!" Thystian shouted.

Goldy looked forward again, seeing another column approach, and two webs were tethered between the walls at the column. Thystian smashed his way through the right web, and Goldy followed. Three of the four birds also followed, but one was distracted avoiding an ice shard that nearly struck its eye, and slammed into the remaining web. It stuck fast, and struggled slightly, completely frozen against the web. The FroreSpider of this web crept out to attack, while the other that had lost its web just watched.

"There!" Thystian shouted.

Goldy looked ahead again, and could see the convergence point of their path and another. "I SERIOUSLY hope that's the path Tocsin and Deetria took!" he shouted.

"As do I!" Thystian responded.

Goldy continued to avoid more snapping attacks from the three remaining Arcteradours.

~~04~~

Tocsin & Deetria nearly crashed into Goldy upon the convergence of the two paths. Thystian exclaimed, "Oh thank goodness! I was worried we'd be permanently separated!"

"Likewise!" Tocsin shouted.

"Yay! OWW!" Deetria squealed, "Goldy... My wing... it hurts..."

Goldy, wincing at the sight of the blackening wing, powered up his Purity Rings, and washed them over Tocsin & Deetria. Deetria's wing immediately shifted from black back to deep pink, then bright pink and glowing. Deetria flapped the wing out, and cheered, "Thank you Goldy! Oh that feels so much better!"

Goldy nodded, and the group sped onward.

The surge of Arcteradours behind the group merged into a large flock. "Yo," one said to another.

"Wussup?" the other responded.

The gorge, now one wide path, was littered with spikes, some even reaching out of the walls. A wave of fog surged up hard in front of the group. With yells, they moved to avoid the huge wave, the squawking Arcteradours simply blasting on through to avoid. They drew near to Goldy, snapping at his tail. He yelped when one landed a bite, with a very cold effect, though his tail withstood the attack. He blazed flames back, scattering several of the birds. Two of them crashed into each other and fell into the fog below.

Two more burst from the fog immediately behind Thystian. With a yell, he began to swoop around avoiding them, but they stayed immediately behind, imitating his every move. "Dang it! I'm not your buddy! Get away!" Thystian yelled, swinging his mallet at them while still trying to keep an eye on the course.

Ahead, a trio of columns came into view, with three webs, one between the left wall and the first column, one between the second column and the third, and one between the third column and the right wall. Thystian smashed one of the birds with his mallet, and the bird's body smashed against the other, sending them into the fog, before Thystian swung through the gap between the large wall of webs. Goldy followed, avoiding more snapping attacks. Tocsin & Deetria however, being as small as they were, flew between a gap in the lines of the webbing. At least three Arcteradours still pursuing them slammed into the web, while the others swooped up and over hard, to avoid. The FroreSpider squealed with delight at the sight of the three birds in its trap.

The darkness of the sky ahead now loomed over the group, and the path narrowed just a bit. Suddenly it completely straightened out.

"LEGGO MY LEG!" Goldy yelled, kicking with a leg that had been clamped on by one of the birds.

It suddenly released him, and all of the dozens of Arcteradours suddenly swung back and flew away, some diving into the fog.

"...That... is NEVER a good sign..." Tocsin remarked, looking back.

Thystian kept in the lead, surfing the disturbed fog, while Tocsin & Deetria and Goldy followed close.

Suddenly a small piece of ice nailed Goldy's face. "OW! WHAT?!" he yelled.

Deetria squealed, as more ice began to fall. "HAIL?!" Tocsin yelled, "This is getting WORSE all the time!"

Sure enough, soon, the group was being pelted by small hailstones, pouring from the thick grey clouds above. Thystian's armor took the hits, the ice breaking apart, sometimes sticking to his armor. Goldy yelled, being hit in the face and wings by the ice. Tocsin & Deetria, being small, were hit much less frequently, but it hurt more when they were. They moved erratically, trying to avoid some of the more obvious stones.

Ahead, another wave of fog roared up, a heavy gust of wind suddenly blasting through. Along with the hail, the group, with great difficulty, managed to avoid the tsunami of fog as it rolled by. A hail piece hit Goldy in the eye. "AH!!" My oversized eye!" he exclaimed in pain.

Passing a trio of spikes, the group narrowly avoided another FroreSpider web, and a heavy tailwind suddenly picked up, speeding their forward movement greatly for a few seconds. The group yelled, dozens of spikes and columns ahead, mixed together. Thystian desperately tried to avoid them, swung about crazily, and was launched by a sudden rise in the fog. Tocsin and Deetria, pained by the hail, narrowly avoided slamming into a column. Deetria squealed in fear.

Ahead, the fog was very disturbed, higher than normal, and a large arch reached over the gorge. It groaned deeply.

A loud crash echoed from above. Tocsin & Deetria widened their eyes, and looked in its direction, recognizing the sound of an avalanche triggering. They screamed, and Thystian, looking as well, yelled too.

As the boulders and spikes of stone crashed down a wall toward the group, Goldy was struck once more in the eye by hail. He yelled in pain, eye closed, and veered hard off course. A boulder slammed into him from above, causing him to spin hard, and crumpling one of his wings. He screamed, as he careened through the air, smashed clean through a spike reaching out of the fog, and, now unconscious, spiraled down and into the fog with a puffy blast.

In unison, Tocsin and Deetria screamed, "GOLDY! NO!!"

Thystian, having heard all the crashing, stopped at this point, swinging around and looking. "GOLDY?!" he yelled.

"Goldy crashed! He fell into the fog!" Deetria squealed in terror.

With an exclamation in another language, Thystian pointed to the underside of the arch and yelled, "Take shelter! I'm going down after him!"

Tocsin & Deetria did as he said, flying up to under the arch. Deetria whimpered. They watched as Thystian swung around in the air, swooping up, then curving around and diving down into the fog with a poof.

"Thystian..." Deetria whimpered.

~~05~~

Thystian's suit alarms immediately began to go off, and he kept a twitching eye on the buffer status as it began to diminish from one-hundred percent, down. He sped down through the fog, noticing that as he got deeper, the fog's damage infliction increased. On top of all this, he couldn't see very well. He quickly switched his vision mode in his helmet to thermal, and everything went black, but for the faint differentiation of temperature with the ground below and the fog around it. He was shocked to see exactly how deep this gorge really was, as he dove and dove.

Soon he reached the floor of the gorge, and looked around frantically. Already his buffer had fallen below seventy percent. "GOLDY!!" Thystian yelled, and began to scour the crevasses at the floor, around the spike bases that reached up.

He heard the flowing of a fluid, and looked around. He drifted over and found a river traveling through here. He stood still for a minute, scanning it, and learned that it was a river of liquid nitrogen. He shuddered. The buffer was below fifty percent. "GOLDY!! MAN!! ANSWER ME!!" Thystian yelled at the top of his voice.

"If he fell in that river..." Thystian trailed off.

He swung around at the sound of a shivery moan nearby. He quickly raced toward the source, and shouted Goldy's name once more. Goldy moaned again, and Thystian spotted him, barely, on his thermal vision. Goldy had crashed onto the bank of the river, and his body was now covered in frost. Thystian's buffer was below thirty percent.

Thystian swept up to Goldy and leapt off. He dashed over and knelt. Goldy, shivering hard, reached up to Thystian and pleaded, "Just... leave me here... I'm... not gonna make it..."

Thystian, scoffing loudly, proceeded to grab Goldy, who was now freezing cold and hard as ice. He hefted the baby dragon over a shoulder, and lunged back onto his Hoverboard. He immediately began to race straight up to the surface of the fog.

As he rose, he scanned Goldy, and learned that, aside from the developed hypothermia, Goldy's wing was also smashed extensively. Goldy could no longer fly, and Thystian's suit, after running some calculations, indicated that Deetria's current level of healing power was insufficient to repair such a heavy amount of damage. Thystian growled slightly, but then stopped growling, as if his suit had told him of another way.

With his buffer at eight percent, Thystian blazed for the surface.

~~06~~

"Tocsin... Thystian's been gone too long..." Deetria said softly, the two clinging to each other under the arch.

"He'll make it..." Tocsin replied, staring at the shimmering, beautiful, but deadly fog below. He watched as the hail pelted the fog and seemed to stop at the surface.

"But... But Tocsin... what if he doesn't?" Deetria said, shivering more out of fear.

"I... don't know, then, Deetria," Tocsin replied, now looking at her.

"If he doesn't... maybe we should go back? Go back to Gravairna..." Deetria replied.

"Don't give up so easily Deetria. Thystian's gotten us through worse scrapes already," Tocsin replied.

Deetria looked down, upset, and said, "I know... But I'm just so scared... So scared for poor Goldy... And if Thystian can't find him, the fog will start to hurt him too."

Tocsin moved his head to be against Deetria's, and he said, "Just close your eyes and wait... He'll make it..."

Deetria held tightly against Tocsin, closing her eyes, the sides of their faces together.

Within another minute, the two looked upon hearing the sound of the fog bursting with a poof. Out of it flew Thystian, his armor covered in frost. Within his helmet, his eyes were bloodshot at staring at his buffer meter, which had fallen to two percent before he escaped the fog. The buffer held in place upon exiting.

Seeing Thystian, Deetria squealed, and Tocsin closed his eyes, exhaling, his breath very visible. Thystian swerved around and sped under the arch, before zipping up a wall and stopping at a large ledge under the overhang. He set the freezing, shivering, frost-covered Goldy down on the ground, and stepped off his Hoverboard.

Tocsin & Deetria flew over fast, and looked at Goldy, worried. Goldy, curled up, shivering still, and Thystian exclaimed, "He's suffering from hypothermia! If he doesn't get some heat, he's gonna die even out of the fog!"

"Heat..." Tocsin repeated, before continued, "Well ol' buddy, it looks like I've gotta save you like you guys saved me before"

"Tocsin?" Deetria whimpered.

Tocsin inhaled, before blazing his flames onto Goldy. Goldy became engulfed in the white-hot plasma flames. Deetria, however, noticed right away a drop in Tocsin's body heat. She squealed in fear, and exclaimed, "Tocsin no! Stop! You're gonna hurt yourself! Please stop!"

Tocsin complied shortly, shivering, despite being as one with Deetria. Goldy's frosty body had thawed, but he was still shivering from internal cold.

Deetria, clinging as tight as she could to Tocsin, squealed at Thystian, "Thystian! Please! There's gotta be another way! Tocsin needs all the heat he's got! Please Thystian..."

Tocsin slowly began to warm as Deetria rubbed a bit against him to stimulate heat generation. Thystian, thinking, took Goldy's Spilievern Pouch and began to rifle through it. "Maybe... just maybe..." he muttered.

Tocsin laid his head against Deetria's, eyes closed while she struggled to warm him back up again. "...Well I'll be a Goomba's uncle," Thystian said, as he took out a sandwich.

It was an evil-looking sandwich, with large red things inside it along with other red-speckled things. "...What is that?" Tocsin asked.

"Eat this, fast!" Thystian exclaimed to Goldy.

Thystian fed Goldy the sandwich. Barely able to work his jaw, Goldy chewed, then swallowed the thing. After a few seconds, the group grew worried that maybe it wasn't what Thystian thought it was. That is, until Goldy started to twitch, and sweat broke out, melting what little frost was on him. With a gradually rising scream, Goldy scrambled to his feet, then leapt straight into the air, nearly hitting his head on the arch's underside. Flames roared from his mouth, his face a strong red. Landing on the ground, Goldy started charging around the ledge, screaming wildly, flailing his arms, flames blazing uncontrollably from his mouth.

With quick action, Tocsin pulled, gently, free from Deetria, and swooped into Goldy's flames. He disappeared within them as Goldy stood there, running crazily in place, flailing his arms.

Deetria watched, eyes wide, and looked at Thystian, who was standing up now, nodding. "What... was in that sandwich?" she asked, confused.

"Heh heh heh... A scan told me those were Denatro Peppers in that sandwich... Those things, are the hottest peppers in the whole of the Wenonah Galaxy," he replied.

"...Oh! Hee hee! Wow! I see! ...I wonder if... if Adelline somehow knew we'd need those" Deetria said quietly.

Soon, the flames stopped, and Goldy stood there, hands on his knees, hunched, panting. Tocsin swooped back over to Deetria and they wrapped up together again. "OHHH..." Deetria moaned, "You are so WARM now... It feels so good!"

Tocsin responded, "You're telling me. I feel totally powered up!"

Goldy stepped over to Thystian and held out a hand. Knowing what to do, Thystian shook Goldy's hand, and Goldy said, "Thank you... Thanks a LOT Thystian..."

"Don't thank me just yet Goldy... Your wing is broken..." Thystian replied.

Goldy looked over his shoulder at his mangled wing, and yelped. He yelled even louder when he tried to move it, and it twitched only slightly. "OH DRAGON THAT HURTS! Aaaahh..." he exclaimed.

"Lemme fix it!" Deetria squealed. She pointed her tail at Goldy, and fired a strong beam of holy energy. Goldy held still, and the pain stopped. However, when he looked back, the wing was still mangled.

"...Wha?" Deetria said, stunned.

Thystian slowly shook his head, and said, "Deetria, your level of power is not high enough to mend severely broken dragon bones..."

"No..." Deetria whimpered, eyes tearing up.

"...What are we going to do then, exactly? We can't leave him here!" Tocsin exclaimed.

Goldy became surprised when Thystian lifted him up and laid him on his shoulder, head forward. "Hey! Whoa! You're not gonna carry me!" Goldy protested.

Thystian sternly responded, as he climbed onto his board, "I have no other choice, Goldy... My suit and board can handle the extra weight, and getting ALL of us out of this terrible place is absolute priority. We're a good two-thirds of the way out of here, and we're not giving up."

Goldy was silent. "We went from four to two on this mission. I'd have to say this is the most dangerous planet we've been to so far..." Tocsin noted.

"Indeed..." Thystian replied, as he swooped out from under the arch and back out into the hailstorm, heading off through the path in the gorge.

"...I'm so glad we have him as our leader..." Deetria whispered.

"As am I, Deetria..." Tocsin replied.

The two, as one, followed the other two, now also as one.

~~07~~

Having made decent progress, the group sped along the now mostly straight and wide gorge path. Again, the place attempted to impede their progress. Waves of fog roared up, the hail poured down on them, and they had more spikes to avoid.

"We're so dang close now!" Thystian yelled.

"You're just carrying me like this to use me as an umbrella against the hail, aren't you?!" Goldy yelled, being pelted all over by the hail, his large mass taking more hits than Thystian.

Thystian laughed at this, and replied, "Of course!"

Goldy, recognizing sarcasm when he heard it, just rested his chin in his hands, with an annoyed expression. He shrieked when Thystian swooped hard between two spikes in the path ahead.

"Another fork!" Tocsin exclaimed as they saw a split in the path ahead. "Don't decide at the last second again Thystian!"

Thystian immediately headed to the right path, avoiding another spike, the wind rushing past the group. Tocsin & Deetria followed. The two duos swooped into the right path, which was dangerously narrow at first, but began to widen out a bit. "I kinda wish I'd brought a book to read or something..." Goldy muttered.

A few minutes into their erratic flight down this path, snow began to blow along with the hail, and the wind picked up to a gale. Tocsin & Deetria held tight and close to Thystian and Goldy as they forced their way through. The fog was extremely disturbed, undulating and waving about, threatening to lash up suddenly and devour the group at any time. The path curved left. "What do you mean you don't have any peanuts?!" Goldy yelled at Thystian.

The path curved to the right, and a massive gust of wind blew at the group, causing their flight speed to nearly come to a standstill midair, as snow and ice blew past. Deetria squealed in pain when a bit of ice hit her in the face. She whimpered, and Tocsin moved to rub her face with his own. Deetria blushed at this, it having been the first time Tocsin nuzzled Deetria instead of the other way around. "I wonder if this counts to my frequent flier miles?" Goldy pondered.

A huge crash roared from above to the right. The group moved quickly to the left, and yelled out at the sight of a huge icy boulder bounding down the wall ahead. It snagged a ledge, and catapulted across the gorge right at Thystian and Goldy. Thystian shot forward hard to avoid the massive projectile as it slammed into the wall, causing a second avalanche to fall down the opposite wall. By that point, the group had moved ahead, speeding along. "This is the WORST flight I've ever been on! I want to speak to the captain!" Goldy exclaimed.

"Will you QUIT with the AIRPLANE JOKES?!" Thystian yelled.

Another wave roared up before the group with a tremendous gust of wind propelling it. The group yelled, seeing that it reached up beyond the top of the ridges far above. Goldy suddenly, without warning, blazed flames, cutting a hole through the huge wave. Thystian shot through, and Tocsin & Deetria followed just before the hole closed.

"That... was quick thinking there Goldy..." Thystian remarked.

"Yay! I saved everyone for once!" Goldy exclaimed.

"WHY didn't you do that before?!" Tocsin yelled.

"I was always in the back and everyone else was able to get around anyway!" Goldy replied.

Tocsin was silent, and the group sped onward. Thystian knew they were nearing the end of the gorge. His suit's altitude display showed that the ground height was beginning to increase.

~~08~~

"What the heck is that?!" Tocsin yelled, looking ahead.

Everyone looked forward, and could see that in the distance, emerging from the darkness, was a huge ice formation of some sort. It was crystalline blue, reaching out of the fog. "Reaching" being an accurate word, as it looked eerily like an arm, ending with a four-fingered hand, the tips of which were sharp, reaching out of the fog and toward the sky. The hand's palm area was at least as big as Thystian.

The group passed a close proximity spike of stone, and drew near, slowing a bit, as the blizzard raged. As soon as they got near, another hand-like formation lashed out of the fog and grabbed Thystian and Goldy in a freezing, crushing grip. They screamed, as did Deetria. The already reaching arm creaked into motion, and snatched at Tocsin & Deetria. Being smaller, they slipped between its fingers in its swinging snatch at them. The hand smashed through the spike, shaving off the point tip and producing a platform of sorts.

Tocsin noticed, peering out from beneath the fog, were a pair of sky-blue lights, in the position and shape of point-ended eyes. He narrowed his own. The crushing hand held Thystian and Goldy tight, and they watched, helpless. The free hand swung against at Tocsin & Deetria, who returned fire with their special double attack: a beam of light with plasma flames spiraling around it. The hand jolted, and a roar echoed from near the eyes. The hand pointed at the two, and fired a large ball of icy energy. They shot to the side to avoid, and Tocsin countered with a plasma orb. It detonated, slightly cracking the hand. The hand pointed a finger, and fired the tip at the two. It flew rapidly, and screamed by, narrowly missing. They observed as the missing finger tip grew back. The blizzard raged.

Tocsin and Deetria fired their plasma light beam again, and the hand trembled from the damage, cracking more. Another roar echoed, and the hand receded into the fog. The second hand suddenly threw Thystian and Goldy at Tocsin & Deetria, though the little ones were able to avoid the dead weight attack. Free again, the frost-covered Thystian landed on his Hoverboard mid air, and swooped around to catch Goldy. He quickly set him on the stone spike platform, and drew his bow. "Keep us healthy Goldy..." he requested.

Goldy nodded. And the group held still as a loud rumble occurred. Out of the fog rose their enemy. Massive, the creature towered over the group. It had a vaguely humanoid appearance, with a humanoid torso, though its head consisted of a ferocious cluster of icicles with a jagged mouth, and two sky-blue, glowing eyes amongst the crystals all over its face. It had four arms emerging from its shoulders, all with four fingers, with large clawed tips, and spiked knuckles. It was covered in spikes itself, and was quite clearly made of a crystalline blue ice. It shimmered. But it roared at the group, releasing a cold wind that chilled them all. The blizzard raged. "A Frore Storm Lord stands in our way... Fight harder than you've ever fought before! It is extremely durable!" Thystian announced.

The creature violently swung an arm at Thystian, smashing him into the side wall. Thystian's Hoverboard kept directly under him however, and he landed on it, before firing an explosive arrow at the creature. It echoed an icy creak, before firing icicles at Thystian. He shifted hard to the side to avoid. Tocsin shot a plasma fireball at the Frore Storm Lord, and the creature jolted upon impact. It thrust a hand out very suddenly to punch Tocsin & Deetria, hitting them without warning. They flew back, yelling out. Goldy fired his healing beams at Thystian, then switched to Tocsin & Deetria. He then yelled out when the creature lashed out to grab him. He jumped straight up and attempted to flap his wings, but the damaged one failed and he yelled in pain, disturbing the broken wing again.

Thystian fired an Amethyst Arrow at the creature's eye. The arrow failed to pass through it, though it did jolt from the attack, a small crack forming on its face. It counter attacked by holding a hand up, and four huge icicles rose into the air. They moved over all four of the group, with two over Tocsin & Deetria, and dropped down at them suddenly. Thystian shifted to the side hard to avoid. Goldy blazed flames up, melting the icicle and showering himself in lukewarm water. Deetria phased herself and Tocsin out, letting the icicles pass through. Upon normalizing, Tocsin raced close and blazed his multi-colored flames into the face of the monster. It emitted an icy creak with the attack, before blazing an arctic blast at the two. They were blazed with the ice, and shrieked, Tocsin especially taking damage. Deetria quickly healed Tocsin, who shivered for several minutes afterwards. Goldy was hit in the face with a somewhat large hail block, and staggered with a yell, nearing falling off his platform.

The Frore Storm Lord raised all four hands up, and they began to glow intensely. The blizzard intensified, and the snow became balls of snow, the hail increasing in size to small rocks. Thystian was smashed in the face with a snowball, switched to his mallet, and blindly threw the weapon. It struck the torso of the beast, which jolted, and a small crack formed there, before the mallet returned to Thystian. Tocsin & Deetria could not attack while the blizzard was this intense, having to avoid the myriads of projectiles. Goldy shrieked and yelped, leaning this way and that to avoid being smashed by the hail and snow.

The Frore Storm Lord held out a hand, aimed at Thystian while he was distracted with wiping the snow off the face of his helmet. A large spike creaked out of the palm of the monster's hand, then fired off at Thystian. Thystian cleared his vision in time to see the projectile smash him. With a huge icy blast, Thystian was launched hard and fast. He fell faster than his board, and into the fog below, disappearing. Deetria squealed in terror. Goldy yelled out too. The blizzard calmed to normal intensity. Tocsin, angered, converted to ball plasma form despite still being connected to Deetria. She squealed as she was consumed by the ball, which suddenly developed feather-shaped blades of light energy swarming around it. They zoomed at the Frore Storm Lord and smashed into its face, causing the crack there to grow a bit. The orb bounced off and flew back, before they returned to normal. Deetria had a strong blush, and looked at Tocsin. He looked back, same kind of blush. "...Did we just..." he said.

"No... I don't think that counts..." Deetria replied quietly.

Goldy nearly fell off the spike laughing. Thystian suddenly launched out of the fog, covered in frost, hammer raised, and as he flew, he roared something in his native language. The hammer turned red, and he slammed the thing into the face of the Frore Storm Lord, causing a powerful eruption and lava blasted out. The Storm Lord emitted an icy creak, and the liquid lava quickly solidified into stone on its face. It began to claw at this stone, while Thystian landed on his board, before throwing it at one of the hands. The impact caused a large crack to form, before the weapon returned to Thystian.

Having recovered from the strange move, Tocsin & Deetria began to fire their plasma and light combo at the beast, damaging its already cracked arm. The attack caused the arm to break loose, and it crashed into the fog below. The beast roared, muffled behind the solid stone on its face, before blasting the material off with a breath attack. It quickly pointed the fingers of its three remaining hands at the group, and sprayed icicles at them. Thystian smashed any that got near with his mallet. Goldy blazed flames to stop the projectiles, as did Tocsin with Deetria. Goldy quickly healed Thystian with his Purity Rings, but grunted in surprise when the creature, very suddenly, reached out and snatched Thystian up from his board. It brought him close to look, and Thystian beat it over the head with his mallet. It emitted icy creaks, the crack on its face growing slightly. It forcibly threw Thystian back down the gorge some distance. His Hoverboard pursued.

Goldy looked back, then forward, an expression of fear on his face now. He screamed, and desperately blazed flames to counter a gust of arctic wind from the creature's mouth. Tocsin took this opportunity to gather power, and fired three plasma orbs out and around the beast's head. The orbs exploded, and the creature jolted, the crack growing to be nearly splitting the creature's face down the middle. It roared, other cracks forming on its body. It quickly lashed its hands out, and grabbed Tocsin & Deetria. It squeezed, and their muffled screams of pain could be heard from within. Goldy, panicking, blazed his flames hard. He then hiccupped, and what blasting out of his mouth next was a fireball. It raced forward and struck the creature's hand, severely cracking it. A sudden blast of plasma and light, and the hand shattered. Goldy stood shocked at using this new attack. He thought for a moment at how he felt when he did it, trying to recall exactly what he did, hoping he intentionally repeat it.

Deetria clung to Tocsin, scared from the crushing attack. Tocsin, however, was furious. He proceeded to release a plasma fireball at the beast, hitting its torso, and increasing the crack size there. He flinched upon seeing another fireball hit the creature in the same spot. He looked at Goldy, who, with a big grin, held out a thumb's up. Tocsin gained an evil look, and the two began to pummel the beast with their fireballs. Deetria started to cheer now. The beast struggled against the hail of flaming projectiles, cracks forming on its body. In a last ditch effort to stop them, it spat out its own projectile. Blazing forth was a massive ball of ice energy that spun rapidly as it flew, spraying off from itself icicles in every direction. Goldy shielded himself with his arms, yelping at the icy shots. Deetria phased herself and Tocsin out again to let them pass. "Deetria... What happened to your Status Waves?" Tocsin asked during this moment of safety.

"I don't like them... They're not reliable enough! I wanna help, not cause chaos..." Deetria replied.

Tocsin slowly nodded, the two returning to normal.

Tocsin and Goldy resumed beating the beast with their fireballs, and it roared, loud cracking sounds echoing from it. These sounds, and even the sound of the blizzard, were overrode with the sound of a large flying object zooming in to the scene. Passing between Tocsin & Deetria and Goldy, was Thystian's hammer, glowing solid purple. The beast looked at the projectile in time to see it smash hard right in the center of its face, causing a huge purple explosion. The hammer quickly flew back to its owner, as Thystian angrily zoomed in, on his Hoverboard.

The creature roared, the crack on its face now growing to spread jaggedly all the way down its body and up its head. Thystian caught his mallet, and the group held still, watching as the creature stopped moving suddenly, and its eyes began to fade out. The blizzard began to calm, slowing to a stop.

With a huge icy blast, the creature detonated, and the group shielded themselves. After the mist and ice cleared, they looked back, and blinked. There, floating in the air, was a tiny version of the Frore Storm Lord, it's tiny torso disappearing into a tiny cloud of the freezing fog. It started squealing crazily at the group.

They slowly looked at each other, then back at the creature. It kept ranting and raving in a tiny voice. It then turned, and sped off, disappearing into the dimly lit night air.

~~09~~

Thystian swooped up the spike and stopped at the top, looking at Goldy. Tocsin & Deetria approached as well. "That was an excellent performance on the part of all of you," Thystian said.

"You finished it off though," Tocsin replied.

"I'm getting tired of fighting so many monsters..." Deetria replied.

"We all are, Deetria. I understand your weariness. We'll be done soon, I promise. We just have to keep pressing on," Thystian responded.

Deetria nodded slowly, before resting her head on Tocsin's. "As for you..." Thystian said to Goldy, "That was a new one."

"I'm getting stronger... I can feel it," Goldy replied, looking at his hands.

He yelped when Thystian hefted him up, and turned to head off down the path, which was straight on ahead. Tocsin & Deetria followed.

With the weather calm, right down to a little less wind, the group moved on through the gorge, nearing the end. A pair of spikes stood in their path, which they passed with ease. Though another gust of wind threw up another wave of the freezing fog. Goldy blasted it out of the way with his flame breath, and they passed through.

Soon, Tocsin and Deetria could see the ground beginning to become visible beneath the fog. "Yay! We're so close now!" Deetria squealed.

They picked up speed, eager to get out of this overly long trench run. But ahead, they could see at a narrowing point, a huge FroreSpider web impeding them. "Oh yeah, THAT figures..." Goldy muttered.

Thystian held Goldy out, and Goldy launched a fireball at the web, melting a portion of it. He then shook his fist at the FroreSpider as they passed through the hole. The spider shook three of its own "fists" back at them as they slipped through safely.

The fog soon disappeared when the ground rose higher than the fog's level. Immediately, everyone felt a greater sense of security, no longer having that deadly gaseous substance below, threatening their lives. The air didn't feel so cold, now. They had gotten used to it.

Upon reaching the exit, the ridges receded into the ground, and the initial gale of wind nearly threw them all to the side. After getting away from the gorge some distance however, the wind calmed back to a steady cold breeze.

Thystian continued to carry Goldy, as they flew over a very flat land, dotted with large spikes like those seen in the gorge, jutting up in random places. They could see the edge of the massive land formation ahead, and Thystian and Tocsin & Deetria slowed.

Soon, they reached the edge, and could see that the land dropped several feet before the dark water could be seen, gently lapping against the sides of the land. "We made it..." Goldy said, climbing off of Thystian.

"Man, I can't tell you how glad I am to be OUT of there," Tocsin remarked.

Deetria, happy, nuzzled Tocsin, and cooed, resting her head on his. "I'm so glad we're safe again," she said, softly.

Tocsin sighed contentedly. Goldy peered out over the horizon, barely able to make out the silhouettes of distant islands. As he panned, he caught sight of some kind of structure out over the water off to the right somewhat of the group, and out at least half a mile. The structure towered over the water, and looked very strange and frightening from a distance. He fell silent. Tocsin asked, "Thystian, where is the facility you mentioned getting the next element at? And speaking of which, what IS the element exactly? I know you mentioned the ShimmerStone at the outset..."

"Yes, it is Refined ShimmerStone I need. And Goldy, you're fortunate... That stuff has massive healing properties. If we can get some, it can be used to heal your wing," Thystian replied.

"Oh goodie," Goldy replied. He was still intimidated though at the sight of the structure.

"Eh?" Tocsin responded, and looked out at the sight. His eyes shrank slightly. Deetria and Thystian also looked out, and Deetria squealed quietly in fear.

"There is our destination... It's a refinery for ShimmerStone," Thystian said.

"...Do we have to?" Deetria said, innocently.

"Yes, I'm afraid we do..." Thystian replied.

Deetria whined.

They gazed out at the structure. It was completely unlit, devoid of activity, and terrifyingly ominous in appearance.

END

Dragon Tails © Tim Dawson

Wenonah Galaxy © Adrian Smith


	11. 11: Jaws of Terror

Roseus Elementeus

Chapter Eleven – Jaws of Terror

~~00~~

Great darkness had consumed this massive structure: a ShimmerStone refinery neighboring BoneChill Gorge. It loomed over the group as they drew near. Tocsin and Deetria remained as one for the moment, their necks and tails entwined, Deetria atop Tocsin's back, to keep him warm. Goldy lay limp, pretending to be dead, on Thystian's shoulder.

Approaching, Deetria's fear grew steadily worse. "It's so scary... It looks so evil..." she whispered.

"And you say this is just a refinery?" Tocsin questioned.

"It is... It should be... It's strange how it's so dark..." Thystian replied.

He scanned the massive structure. It stood on tall stilts in the water. The structure was square-shaped, with at least three floors. Judging by the locations of windows, there was a main, an upper floor, and a lower floor. The main building itself extended below the surrounding outer deck, reaching to just below the surface of the water, while the deck itself circled around the entire facility's main floor. From the viewpoint of the team, the left deck had an aircraft landing pad near the front, while further into the back was a very tall crane. They could see the top of another crane reaching up above the structure from behind, facing away from the facility. And resting on the right deck was a toppled crane. Docked there, on the right side, was a huge barge, tilted sharply sideways, a lot of its crates having fallen off and were floating in the water beside it. The crane's arm was laying on the ship.

"The power is offline... I'm not detecting any of the crew..." Thystian noted.

Deetria shivered a little, in fear. Tocsin held his face close to hers, eyes narrowed at the fearsome sight before them. "I don't wanna go in there..." Deetria whimpered.

"Neither do I... But I also don't want to stay out here..." Tocsin responded, quietly.

Deetria whimpered just a little more, looking at Tocsin, and said, "I'll... I'll be brave... But Tocsin..."

"I'll stay right with you, Deetria. I promise," he said. Deetria held close.

They drew near to a ladder that reached to the water's surface. "We're here, Goldy," Thystian said.

Goldy opened his eyes, and looked forward, seeing the access ladder to the deck above. He nodded, and reached out as Thystian's Hoverboard got close. Taking hold of the ladder, Goldy began to climb. Tocsin and Deetria followed in the air, and Thystian climbed up last. His Hoverboard disappeared once he began to head up.

Once they reached the deck, they stepped out and looked around. The place felt absolutely dead, and dark as a tomb. Immediately in front of them on the front wall of the building, there was a set of double doors. Off to the left of the doors were another pair, though they were of a different kind and much larger, appearing to be gates rather than doors.

"Deetria, as much as I hate to... I think we should split up again. We might need to be free to do two things at once," Tocsin said.

"But... the cold..." Deetria responded.

"I'll be fine. I'll stay right with you. I won't go far," he replied, looking at her with a gentle expression.

"Ok Tocsin," Deetria said, softly.

Thystian and Goldy observed as the two untwined and separated back into the two little dragons they normally were. Deetria took this opportunity to nuzzle Tocsin, not being easily able to when their necks were twined together. Goldy smiled.

Thystian looked back at the facility, and said, "Something is definitely amiss. Everyone be on your guard. These facilities run twenty-four seven, so the fact it's dead suggests foul play."

Everyone nodded, and quietly followed Thystian as he stepped up to the front door. He attempted to open it, but found that the door was locked. The group was silent. Thystian walked over to the gate to the left of the front doors, and checked it. It required power to operate. Thus, it was also inaccessible. "Hmm... This is going to be harder than I had hoped..." Thystian muttered.

Following Thystian, the group quietly walked back to the right, past the front doors, and around the building's corner. They gasped at the sight of the wrecked barge, which was smashed into the deck, crushing a good portion of its outer edge. A low moan of wind frightened Deetria, and they could hear the water lapping below them. The barge had smashed into the deck in such a way that the crane parked on the edge had been knocked forward so that it's arm had fallen onto the ship, and from the looks of it, crushed the control station in the back. "That is one big accident..." Tocsin remarked.

"I am getting more worried by the minute," Thystian said, as he stepped down the deck toward the back of the facility.

Along the wall of the building, to the group's left, were three gates, several feet from each other, along the wall, suggesting they each led to a separate room. These gates appeared to rise upward into the wall. Thystian checked one, and once again found that they were locked. "Are we even gonna be able to get inside?" Goldy asked.

"There's still a back door I'm sure..." Thystian replied.

"I'm assuming breaking down a door is not an option," Tocsin said, staying close to the nervous Deetria.

"You assume correctly. Entering is ok, but BREAKING and entering... Not so much," Thystian replied. He lead the group onward to go back behind the building, on the deck.

Another low moan of wind blew past the group. They turned the corner to the back, and stopped. The crane here was near the corner they had just taken. Ahead, they saw a large overhanging ceiling emerging from the back wall. Under it was a station with some purpose. Beside this station, there appeared to be a communications array, with a large satellite dish aimed up and out to the sky.

"What are those pads and that computer?" Goldy asked, as they walked toward the station.

"Ahh, a teleport station. That'll be our way off this planet if we can finish what we're doing here," Thystian replied.

He scanned the system to make sure it was still intact. Tocsin examined it closer, and Deetria kept close to him. Goldy noticed a back door into the building, on the wall before either of these two stations, and walked over to it. It was slightly ajar, and had a simple grabbing handle. He clutched the bar, pulled, and the door opened. "Here's our way in," he said.

"Good," Thystian replied, preparing to head in.

"I don't wanna go in there!" Deetria whined.

They stopped and looked at her. Tocsin spoke softly, "Deetria, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get off this planet, and take a break from this cold..."

"I still don't wanna! It's too scary!" she whined.

"Deetria... Don't act like that. It detracts from your beauty," Tocsin said.

This got a reaction. Deetria blushed a bit, while Goldy grinned and Thystian crossed his arms, nodding. Deetria gazed at Tocsin, and said quietly, "You just have infinite sweetness, don't you Tocsin..?"

"Courage is another trait of mine. I'll stay with you at all times Deetria," Tocsin responded.

Deetria whimpered and wiggled a little, but gave in. Goldy, leading the group in, headed through the door first, Thystian allowing Tocsin and Deetria in second, before he followed last.

~~01~~

CLICK! The door locked behind them upon stepping into the pitch-dark chamber. Deetria squealed in fear. Thudding sounds were heard. "Who just stepped on my foot?!" Thystian exclaimed.

"Me!" Goldy yelled, as his efforts to open the door could be heard in the darkness. It did not open.

Tocsin and Deetria brightened their glows a little, and Thystian turned on his suit's brights to light the area up with green light. They were in a very small foyer. Immediately to the left of the door upon stepping through were a set of descending stairs, and next to them, beside another door directly in front of the group, was a set of ascending stairs.

"It's locked!" Goldy exclaimed, pushing the bar several times.

"We're stuck in here?!" Deetria squealed, now very afraid.

"Dang it Thystian!" Tocsin yelled.

"If it comes down to it, I can smash us out... For now, we just need to figure out what's happened here," Thystian replied calmly, trying to keep everyone else calm.

"What... is that..." Goldy said, looking at the wall to their right.

Everyone looked, and could barely make out a large red smear on the wall and floor. They were all silent for several seconds. Deetria could barely hear a strange noise, that sounded like gurgly speech, extremely faint, echoing from the descending stairs. She whimpered, and Tocsin looked at her. "I... heard something..." she whispered, afraid, and keeping very close to Tocsin now.

"I am now officially scared," Goldy said, his fear audible in his voice, "Please let's just get out of this stairwell..."

Thystian stepped forward, and found that the door directly in front of them opened with no trouble, its handle being a twisting handle, like a handicap doorknob. The group eagerly stepped out of the stairwell, and entered a corridor.

This corridor was long, and lined with doors. Immediately to their left was what appeared to be an elevator shaft, though clearly offline. There were five doors on the right wall, each labeled, though at first no one paid attention to them.

They stepped out of the very narrow opening path, into the much wider section of the corridor, and could see three sets of large, swinging, double-doors along the left wall. They appeared to be align with the three gates the group saw outside in that area. "Oh dragon... More of the dried red stuff..." Goldy whispered.

This corridor was sparsely decorated, with a couple of potted plants that were totally unfamiliar to either Goldy or Tocsin. But it was not them that they paid attention to. It was the several dozen or so dried pools of red substance, some rather large, on the floor, and smatterings of it on the walls. Thystian finally decided to scan these, and fell dead silent.

"...It's dried blood, isn't it?" Tocsin asked.

Deetria immediately began to cling to Tocsin now, and Thystian slowly nodded. "I knew it... We are so dead," Goldy responded.

With an annoyed expression, Tocsin turned to Goldy and said, "Goldy... So far, we've killed and/or defeated an Insectid Science Lord, a humongous crab, a giant, crazy mushroom woman, a giant squid, multiple giant Noxiuns and a Noxiun captain, and just a few minutes ago defeated a huge ice lord... What the heck makes you feel like we're not gonna survive this?"

"Cause this is a whole lot scarier. You haven't had a chance to watch any of those survival-horror movies yet... This practically REEKS of the environment depicted in them..." Goldy replied.

Deetria shivered. Tocsin just muttered. Thystian noted, "Yeah, but it's always the lover-couple that survive in those movies."

He and Goldy looked at Tocsin and Deetria. The two developed blushes immediately, and Goldy grinned. "Stop embarrassing us Thystian!" Deetria squealed.

"What can I say? You're easy pickin's with all the nuzzling and snuggling and other P.D.A.s," Thystian said as he walked past the two toward the end of the corridor. His suit's lights lit the chamber with a frightening green, and they could see the front door at the other end.

Goldy followed, while Deetria looked at Tocsin and said, "'PDAs'?"

"Public Displays of Affection... And Deetria, don't let him bother you. I know you like nuzzling, and I... kind of LIKE the nuzzling, so..." Tocsin replied.

Deetria nuzzled him.

"Dang... It needs a key..." Thystian said. He had checked the door, and it was locked from the inside, the key missing from the slot, which had a smattering of blood on it.

"Considering the crew's probably dead, why don't you just smash it down?" Goldy asked.

"And let whatever might still be here that KILLED the crew know we're here? I'll reserve that for later. If you're right about this being some kind of 'survival-horror' thing, I'll save desperation for after we're running for our lives," Thystian said, turning and heading back up the corridor.

Goldy nodded, following. He looked along the wall with the five doors as he went, and took in the sight of the icons on the doors. The first door immediately beside the front access had a faucet icon on it, suggesting it had something to do with pipes. On the second door, Goldy recognized a men's bathroom icon. The third subsequently had a women's bathroom icon. The fourth had a plate with a crossing fork and spoon. Goldy turned his head to stare at it as they passed, and began to think about going in there. The last door, across from the elevator shaft's side, had the word "Admin" on it.

As Thystian and Goldy passed by the women's bathroom, the door slowly pulled in slightly, and faint, raspy breathing emitted, unheard by the group, from the crack. A very small, orange glow formed in the narrow opening, as three long, curved claws reached out around the door's narrow end.

"Hmm... This looks like the place to start," Thystian remarked, looking at the door with the "Admin" sign on it.

He quietly opened the door, which opened inward, and he entered. Tocsin and Deetria followed. Goldy, however, distracted by the break room icon, walked over to that door and stepped in. His huge eyes were growing used to the great darkness and very faint light from the stars outside through the windows.

The office had a plush carpet, in contrast to the tile floor outside. There were several bookshelves along the walls, a ceiling fan in the center, and a large, rectangular table below it, with several chairs. The chamber was an absolute mess. Dried blood could be seen in at least three spots, papers were strewn about, one shelf was toppled onto the table, books dumped all over the floor. Several sets of three massive claw marks could be seen on the table itself. Deetria clung to Tocsin still, shivering. He and Thystian looked around. "What are we after..?" Tocsin asked quietly.

Thystian stepped over to the toppled shelf and stood it up. He knelt, and began to look through the papers and books, before moving to another mess. He replied as he did, "Records on anything that may have happened here. Also, if you happen to see any keys, grab 'em."

Tocsin nodded. He and Deetria began to float about, looking for keys, as well as important documents.

The break room was as large as the office, though with a linoleum floor. It had numerous cabinets mounted to the walls and floor, a refrigerator, and a rectangular table in the center, its own ceiling fan over it. It also had a sink, a flat-screen monitor mounted to a wall, a potted plant, and a water cooler. The jug still held much water and resting on top of it. Much like the office however, this room was completely trashed, dried blood spattered just about everywhere, one of the ceiling fan's blades was snapped off, and claw marks were all over the room. Goldy gulped in fear, and walked into the room. He looked around, and noticed that despite all the damage, the fridge looked to be intact. He walked around the table and over to it. He opened it. He was blasted by a stench, and his eyes began to water. He peered inside, and could see several meals, sandwiches, half a container of stroganoff, and a large tub of cottage cheese, its lid missing. They were all severely rotten. He coughed and gagged. His eyes then widened when a glob slowly rose out of the tub of cottage cheese. It had eyes, and a mouth, and said, "S'oright?"

Goldy slammed the fridge door shut.

Immediately following this, the sound of a wet footstep caught his attention from outside the break room door, which he had left open. He walked forward a bit toward the noise. "Thystian? Is that you?" he said, nervously.

The sounds of raspy breathing became audible. Goldy shook with fear. He took a step back, moving away from the audible, wet footfalls as they drew near, now in the room. An orange glow formed in the air in front of him, and Goldy's eyes shrank. All he could see were a pair of tiny, bead-like eyes, and the biggest maw, filled needle-sharp teeth, he had ever seen. Some of the teeth were several inches in length. Goldy screamed louder than he'd ever screamed before.

Thystian stood over the table, arms down on it, looking intensely at a document he had found. It was filled with terror-ridden rambling. One word jumped out at him every time he saw it. That word, was, "Malophiicet". Goldy's scream then overrode the silence of the area, and Thystian swung his head up and toward the door. Deetria shrieked in terror when she heard it, simply due to a buildup of her own fear. Crashing quickly ensued from the room next door.

"I was wondering when that would start!" Tocsin exclaimed.

The three rushed out of the office, and around, into the break room. Standing before them was a brown-colored, eight-foot-tall organic being with a bulk-filled body, covered in scales, bearing numerous fins, a large fish tail, and sporting big, muscular, finned and spiked arms and legs. The arms ended in three-fingered hands, with thin flesh between the fingers. The hands also had thumbs, and each digit ended in massive curved claws. The feet were much larger than the hands, looking more like flippered feet, and completely lacked claws.

Deetria shrieked again, as the group observed Goldy, holding up a chair by its back, thrust it at the being. "BACK! BACK I SAY!" he shouted, with two more thrusts.

With an oddly feminine tone to its voice, the being snarled a distorted snarl, swiping a clawed hand at the chair, and obliterating it, the parts clattering to the wall and down to the floor, leaving Goldy holding the back. He froze with terror at the sheer strength of the creature.

Thystian drew his mallet, raised it, nearly hitting the ceiling, and slammed it down on the creature's back. The being hunched slightly, barely reacting, and twisted around to snarl at Thystian, revealing its gargantuan maw of demonic teeth. Sprouting from its forehead and reaching out a tiny distance, curving to hang, was a small, fleshy growth with an orange orb at the end of it, glowing faintly. The glow stopped when the being faced Thystian however, due to his suit's lights.

Deetria, terrified out of her mind, zoomed out of the room with a scream. Tocsin immediately followed. A loud splashing thud was heard and the creature jolted, before turning around. Goldy had flung the water jug at the creature, and while it was distracted, he rushed around it, and leapt out of the room, sliding on the floor upon exiting. Thystian jumped back, and slammed the door. Crashing ensued inside the room, and Thystian kept strong hold on the door's gripping handle, to keep it shut fast. He heard the creature grunt, followed by a table-splintering sound, though the door wasn't acting like the being was trying to escape. It sounded more like the creature was bumbling blindly in the room, having lost its source of light temporarily.

Deetria floated at the top corner of the corridor, shivering, covering her face with her wings. Tocsin swooped up, and clung to her. She squealed at first, but as soon as she realized it was Tocsin, she clung back, shivering with terror, and crying again.

Goldy got up, rushed over, gripped and pulled the door shut as well. He asked, "What... the heck... was that?"

Thystian quietly explained, "I saw it before I heard you scream... I saw what had happened here... That thing, Goldy, is a Malophiicet. It's a member of a sentient but vicious angler-fish race native to this and other marine planets. Believe it or not, they are a predominantly female race, the females getting to look like that when they mature. And it seems a gang of them attacked this facility, slaughtered its crew and turned it into their home..."

"They ain't no mermaids, that's for sure..." Goldy responded.

"...Technically they are. 'Mer' just means "marine", and 'maid' means female, so..." Thystian noted.

"Did you REALLY need to point that out? Anyway, WHAT are we gonna do?!" Goldy exclaimed. He yelled when the Malophiicet yanked at the door, causing them both to jolt hard.

"We still need to somehow find some Refined ShimmerStone. If we can, I can probably temporarily power up that teleport station with another piece of the Marium Amethyst and we can get the heck outta here," Thystian replied.

Another hard yank, and a section of the door cracked heavily. "Where would it be?!" Goldy yelped, nearly being raked across the side of his face by the Malophiicet's claws as she punched through the door.

"If there are any, they'll be in those storage rooms! Make a run for it!" Thystian yelled.

Abandoning the door, the two charged for the middle swinging double-doors, with a large letter "B" over it. Tocsin watched, and whispered, "Deetria... Get a hold of yourself... Come on, we need to follow them..."

Deetria, still terrified, could not make out an answer. Tocsin wrapped his tail around hers, and towed her down and through the door. She squealed in fright as he did. The Malophiicet simply opened the damaged break room door calmly now that the two had fled, and stepped out. She looked around, breathing raspily, and noticed the doors swinging still. She grinned a humongous, toothy grin, and stepped after them to follow, unable to move very fast due to her bulky, awkwardly-hunching body and big flipper feet.

~~02~~

Entering the large unsquare storage chamber, they found that it had several massive shelves reaching to the ceiling. Resting on many of these shelves were a few large, long, hexagon-shaped containers. Clearly the shelves had more storage capacity, suggesting there were many possibly missing. Thystian quickly began scanning the present containers, while Goldy looked back through the door, seeing the orange glow slowly drawing near. "She's coming! Hide!" he yelled.

Thystian grunted in frustration, scanning other containers, and shouted, "These things are all empty! There's no Refined ShimmerStone in here!"

Goldy scrambled behind a shelf with several containers resting on the bottom platform. Tocsin flew up to the ceiling, still towing Deetria, who clung to him as soon as he stopped. She was beside herself with terror, and Tocsin continued desperately trying to calm her down. Thystian ducked behind other containers in the chamber, and dimmed his suit's brights.

The Malophiicet casually walked into the storage room through the doors, and looked around. With her light angle glowing, she could see clearly in the room somehow. Though it didn't take much for her to notice Tocsin and Deetria near the ceiling. Deetria continued to cry as well, and the Malophiicet noticed. She looked up at them, and snarled a quiet, distorted, feminine snarl. She stepped over to the shelf Thystian was hiding behind, and began to climb up the large metal framework. Able to climb faster than she could walk, she reached the top shortly, and slashed her claws at the two. Deetria shrieked in terror, moving away quickly, but Tocsin's tail kept hold and they both jolted. The Malophiicet clawed at them still, and Tocsin, growling, blazed flames.

The Malophiicet, holding an arm up over her tiny eyes, kept quiet as the flames blazed over her. When Tocsin finished the attack, he gasped in horror at the sight that his flames had no effect whatsoever. The Malophiicet grinned her demonic grin at him, and reached to slash again.

A huge bash was heard, and the shelf shook violently. The Malophiicet yelped, looking down, and saw that Thystian had struck the shelf with his hammer. With a second strike, the shelf began to crash down, and the Malophiicet shrieked a distorted, gurgling shriek. The shelf collapsed loudly to the ground, many containers crashing down, along with the Malophiicet, who landed on her back. One large drum landed hard on the Malophiicet's abdomen, knocking the wind out of her.

Thystian charged toward the locked gate at the opposite end of the room from the swinging doors, and Goldy and Tocsin, Deetria now flying with him, struggling to stop her own crying, joined him at it. "NOW would be the time to start smashing doors, right?!" Goldy exclaimed.

"Absolutely!" Thystian replied.

Smashing the gate with his mallet, it took three hits to break the door, which blasted out onto the dock, and the group was blasted by cold wind. The pinned Malophiicet behind them began to yell in a bizarre language.

They rushed out. They skidded to a stop, looked to their right, and saw two more Malophiicets staring at them, angle lights glowing. They snarled, and marched toward the two as fast as they could. Deetria fainted. "...CRAP!!!" Tocsin yelled, before hefting the unconscious Deetria onto his back.

"I was actually kinda wondering if she'd do that..." Goldy remarked, but shut up immediately when Tocsin snarled at him.

"Stall 'em!" Thystian yelled, before rushing to the third gate down the wall. Goldy turned and blazed flames at the approaching Malophiicets, while Tocsin struggled over to Thystian.

Thystian hit the door, but was having difficulty breaking it down. "Thystian... As much as I want to, I can't handle her weight on my back..." Tocsin said, slowly sinking to the ground.

Thystian looked at Tocsin, and said, "...Try that Plasma Ball Feather Blade attack on this door. That might wake her up and break the door down at the same time."

Tocsin blinked, a shocked look, and said, "No way! That made us feel really strange after we did it!"

"Temporary fusion tends to do that..." Thystian remarked.

Tocsin was silent. "Uhh... Guys? Could you, I dunno, HURRY UP?!?!" Goldy screamed, spitting fireballs now at the Malophiicets, who pushed their way through the flames without concern for damage.

Thystian looked at Tocsin, who sighed. He converted to ball plasma form, and Deetria was consumed. Quickly, blades shaped like feathers formed around the orb, and it rushed at the door. The impact blasted it off its hinges and onto the floor in the storage chamber. They exited the form, and Deetria was revived, the two with strong blushes again. "That feels so... ...I can't say it..." Deetria whispered.

"We should probably not use that again..." Tocsin said.

Thystian gestured to Goldy to follow, and Goldy fled the Malophiicets, who were nearly upon him. The group charged into storage unit C. The Malophiicets went to follow, until they heard the pinned Malophiicet yell angrily at them. They looked at her, looked at each other, shrugged, and walked in to help her.

In the third storage chamber, there were yet again shelves with only a few containers. Tocsin and Deetria hovered close, while Goldy peered out the destroyed door. After scanning, Thystian exclaimed, "Argh! Blast! These are empty too. There has got to be some Refined ShimmerStone somewhere in this facility!"

Goldy exclaimed, "Here they come again!" He rushed into the chamber.

Thystian lead the group to charge through the double doors back into the main corridor. Shortly, the three Malophiicets walked into the storage chamber, and headed for the doors after them.

"Gonna check A?" Goldy said quickly, looking at the big letter "A" over the swinging doors near the front of the corridor.

"If the latter two don't have any, I don't think the first would either. I get the feeling the Malophiicets made off with them. No, we're gonna head down to the sub level. There might be some in the Crystal Smasher chamber there," he replied, also quickly. They charged around the useless elevator shaft, heading for the stairwell.

Deetria was just a bit calmer, as the temporary fusion with Tocsin had calmed her heart and mind, due to his own calmness and soothing warmth. Deetria exclaimed, "But... I heard noises down there!"

The four passed through the doorway into the stairwell. The three Malophiicets stepped out of the storage chamber, and looked around. They looked at each other, and spoke in their strange language. One shrugged, the other two glared. They started arguing.

~~03~~

"OOF! OW! OUCH! AUGH!!" Goldy exclaimed, having slipped down the stairs. He crashed against the back wall, his head on the floor, tail up. He cringed, and screamed, "MY FREAKIN' WING!! AUGH!!"

Although Deetria was afraid, she wanted to help more. She released her healing beam at Goldy. The pain stopped, but his wing refused to be healed. He got to his feet, and sighed. "Next time, watch where you're going..." Thystian remarked as he headed down the stairs, around the turn-around point, and down the rest of the stairs to the bottom level.

They gathered at the door, and stepped through. They could not see very far, though the sounds of water could be heard. Along with it, were the sounds of many raspy voices. The voices stopped after a second, and the group saw dozens of orange lights grow to full brightness, revealing the faces of scads of Malophiicets all over the place in this large, open chamber.

"...Well that's just great. Out of the frying pan and into the fire..." Thystian remarked.

"RUN AWAY!" Goldy screamed.

The Malophiicets snarled, Deetria screamed, and the group turned and charged back into the stairwell. Many of the Malophiicets pursued at their maximum pace, while others just stood around watching.

The group charged back up the stairs, swung around the turn around point, and charged for the second stairs back up. Goldy tripped on a step, smashing his shin against a stair. He yelled out, sat suddenly, clutching his shin, his leg pulled up, and exhaled audibly, before inhaling through his gritted teeth. He repeated this twice more, before Deetria realized she needed to use her healing beams on him again. He stopped, and saw the Malophiicets climbing the stairs after them. He turned and charged up again.

Thystian rushed to the door leading into the corridor, while Goldy raced to the door leading out back. Tocsin and Deetria hovered in between, Deetria's fear growing worse again. "Deetria, PLEASE do not faint again..." Tocsin begged. Deetria just clung to him, shivering.

Thystian opened the front door, and standing there were two Malophiicets. They snarled, and Thystian yelled out. One raked her claws across his chest, causing his armor to spark violently.

Goldy kicked the back door, smashing through the lock, and the door swung open. Standing there was another Malophiicet. She snarled, and Goldy yelled out. She chomped forward and clamped onto his muzzle. He screamed a muffled scream, flailing his arms. The Malophiicet pulled, but Goldy pulled back, eyes narrowed. He proceeded to spew flames into the Malophiicet's mouth. With a distorted shriek, the being let him go. Surprisingly, her teeth had failed to do much more than puncture his hide slightly. Goldy yelled, "That was the WORST kiss I've ever received!"

The Malophiicet stood there and blinked. Thystian slammed the door in the faces of the Malophiicets, while Goldy shoved the Malophiicet before him back and grabbed the other door, shutting it.

"You know, you're acting awfully bold, even goofy, considering the terrifying situation we're in..." Tocsin remarked.

"These things are like zombies, man. They're slow and dense. We could outrun them with a brisk walk. Honestly, I am not impressed with the terror-factor here," Goldy remarked.

"Tell that to Deetria..." Tocsin said, pointing with a tail at the shivering, horrified Deetria.

"Tell that to THEM!" Thystian exclaimed, pointing at the large row of Malophiicets nearly upon the group from the stairs.

With yells, the group charged up the ascending stairs, to the second floor. The Malophiicets behind the doors opened them, and joined the others in their pursuit of the four, generating many wet footfalls and snarls.

~~04~~

Charging up the stairs, the group saw a door to the right, and a large window replacing a section of the wall. A view into the chamber they were about to enter was visible through it. The group burst out of the door and into a huge chamber, which was lit faintly by the stars beaming through the windows on the surrounding walls. This chamber had a number of shelves, three massive vats against the back wall, conveyor belts stretched across some open spaces, catwalks reached about above, and a large crane sat silently over one of the vats. Near the front left wall was an offline hopper-loader reaching up to a conveyor belt. The back wall over the stairwell had what appeared to be a control station, as a large computer could be seen peeking over a window in there, along with an orange glow, visible through the window. There were also numerous metal shelves and carts in this huge, open room.

An orange glow emanated from between two of the vats, before fading out. No one noticed it.

Slamming the door behind them, Thystian and Goldy quickly worked together to grab shelves, and propped them against the door. Thystian grabbed a cart, flipped it over and set it against the door, while Goldy took another and set it on the shelves. "I hope that'll hold them..." he said quietly.

He noticed blood emerging from his muzzle, and said, "Deetria... a little healing please?"

Deetria nodded, though still afraid, and released a healing beam to Goldy. "This definitely looks like the refinement chamber," Tocsin said.

"Yes... It is... I'd tell you about the process, but we don't have the time..." Thystian acknowledged.

A loud crash was heard, and the group looked at the door, seeing it being shoved by the Malophiicets. Goldy's expression of confidence faded into terror as the Malophiicets shoulder-shoved the door open, launching the shelves and carts away. They snarled as they stepped in toward the group.

"...This is it guys..." Goldy said, "I take back what I said about them not being terrifying..."

Deetria, with a squeal, raced to the back wall near the hopper-loader and Tocsin followed.

"I am not going down without a fight..." Thystian said, drawing his mallet.

He charged toward the Malophiicets, and smashed one in the face with his mallet. She staggered back with a yelp, while another slashed her claws at Thystian. He avoided by hopping to the side, only to be headbutted by one, and shoved forward, where another slashed his armor, damaging it. They clustered toward him, while others marched toward Goldy.

Goldy prepared to attack, only to be slashed across the back by an additional Malophiicet. He yelled out, staggering forward, and turned to blaze flames at the attacker. She ignored the attack, stepping forward and shoving Goldy with a tackle. He fell back against another Malophiicet, and looked up at her. She looked down, grinning. She grabbed him by his arms.

Tocsin and Deetria watched with horror the rapidly losing battle. "I must help them... Deetria, I promised I'd stay with you... but... Please forgive me..."

"Help them Tocsin, please..." Deetria pleaded.

"Stay safe..." Tocsin said, before charging toward the Malophiicets.

He released a trio of plasma orbs, and the blasts caused the Malophiicets to shriek. One leapt at him with surprising speed and snapped at him, but missed. Tocsin swung around and blazed flames at her from behind.

Thystian flailed his mallet, hitting Malophiicets all around him. The strikes knocked them back slightly, but they kept recovering and began advancing en masse. Goldy, lifted into the air by the Malophiicet behind him, yelled out, spewing flames at the Malophiicets in front of him, keeping them back. Tocsin converted to ball plasma form and rammed a Malophiicet. She jolted from the impact, before swiping at him, but missing again.

Deetria hovered there, near the floor's corner, shivering and sniffling at the sight. Her fear gradually worsened, as she observed her friends quickly being outnumbered and beat down by the Malophiicets.

Several had clamped onto Thystian's limbs with their huge maws, while others slashed away at his armor. He started screaming, his armor sparking violently, before being bashed in the back of the head by his own mallet, wielded by another Malophiicet. They threw him to the ground and gathered around to continue tearing at him.

Deetria's eyes filled with tears, shivering.

Goldy screamed as the Malophiicets started clawing away at his golden hide, producing deep wounds, blood quickly being let loose. He then went muffled when a Malophiicet stuffed him into her mouth up to his waist, attempting to swallow him whole. His legs kicked frantically.

Deetria quaked with fear, crying audibly.

Tocsin swooped about, a growing expression of panic on his face. He blazed flames, trying to help his friends, but a claw swipe from the darkness struck him. He screamed, a trio of deep claw wounds raked down his back. He crashed to the floor and was grabbed by a Malophiicet, which tossed him lightly and punched him hard, toward another Malophiicet, who punched him back.

Deetria's eyes widened, filled with tears. A loud crashing sound echoed in her mind. For just a brief moment, time seemed to slow down for her, and images of the happy times she'd spent with these three close friends, one far closer than the others, flowed through her mind.

She rose into the air, glowing, tears flowing from her eyes, and she began to emit an insane squeal. She zoomed toward the Malophiicets, some looking at her as she approached. She swooped into the group, squealing crazily, glowing brightly, and with a huge shriek, she emitted an incredible flare of light.

The Malophiicets began to scream and wail, and fled from the four, covering their eyes, their angle lights going out. They charged to dark corners of the room, their faces to the wall, curling and hunching down.

There, Thystian lay on his back, deep, extensive damage to his armor. He was motionless, though his head slowly moved to look at Deetria. Purple blood oozed from extremely deep cuts into his armor.

There, Goldy lay, on his front, looking half chewed, but still alive. He groaned, and flicked an arm, throwing Malophiicet saliva off. He bled in many places, blood pooling below him. He looked at Deetria.

There, Tocsin lay, on his back, deep gashes and punch marks on his body. A wing twitched.

Deetria, crying loudly, swooped over to the badly injured Tocsin, and begged, "Tocsin! Tocsin please be ok... Please say something! Please... Tocsin... ...don't die..."

Tocsin, barely able to move, raggedly lifted a wing, and settled it on her head gently. He said, barely able to speak, "I've... cheated death... before... ...Need flame..."

He collapsed, and moaned. Deetria with a squeal, mixed with crying, fired her healing beams at Goldy. Goldy twitched, his wounds closing significantly, but not completely. With a groan, he climbed to his feet, and walked over. Deetria swooped in front of him and begged, "Tocsin needs help! Please help!"

Goldy gently took hold of Deetria, and said, "Work WITH me on that... And Deetria... CALM DOWN..."

Deetria whimpered, and Goldy used a finger to wipe her soaked little face, before holding her over his head. He blazed flames onto Tocsin, who could be heard groaning from within them. After stopping, Goldy said, "Healing beams, AND flames, Deetria!"

Deetria nodded, sniffling, trying hard to stop crying. Goldy blazed flames again, while Deetria fired her healing beams, both onto Tocsin. When they finished, Tocsin was healed enough to rise into the air shakily. He looked at Deetria, who flew free of Goldy's grip and clung to Tocsin. "So... scared... I didn't want to lose you..."

Tocsin kept silent, wings around her. Goldy noticed Thystian, and quickly powered up his Purity Rings, before bathing Thystian in the holy energy. Thystian's wounds closed and his armor restored fully. He climbed up to his feet, and held there for a minute. "Guys... On guard..." he said.

Everyone looked around, seeing that the Malophiicets had since recovered, and had nearly completely surrounded them. The only opening was to the stairs. Thystian said, "They hate light... I know what we must do... MOVE!"

Thystian charged for the doorway, and Goldy quickly followed. Tocsin and Deetria held close, as she continued to check him to make sure he was recovered enough. He groaned a bit, and said, "A few more hits, and all that fire and healing energy wouldn't have been enough..."

Deetria held close, still trying hard to keep control of herself.

~~05~~

Standing in the stairwell door was another Malophiicet, and it snarled at the group. Thystian snarled back, but noticed Goldy run around to the window of the stairwell. He nodded and rushed around as well. Tocsin followed, and said to Deetria, "Focus your emotions into your light! That'll keep them away!"

Deetria, realizing that this was the best action to take, stayed behind him, and glowed powerfully, keeping the advancing Malophiicets at bay.

"...Kinda wish she'd done that to begin with..." Goldy said.

"Give her some slack Goldy... She's such an innocent little soul, she doesn't think of things like that very easily. Especially when terrified," Thystian responded.

He took his mallet to the window, easily smashing it away. The Malophiicet in the stairwell shielded her face with her arms, yelping. Thystian grabbed Goldy, and threw him down the stairwell. With a blat, Goldy landed on the floor, and got up, while Thystian leapt through the window and down the stairs, nearly hitting his head on the support wall for the stairs above them. "Wow, it's been a while since you've done that," Goldy remarked.

"I kinda forgot about it..." Thystian said.

The two were joined by Tocsin and Deetria, and the four charged down the stairs. "Back to the sub-level!" Thystian exclaimed.

"But what about the Malophiicets down there?!" Goldy replied.

"I'll... keep them back," Deetria said, trying to muster courage amidst her terror.

"You can do it, Deetria. If you can overcome fear, you can do anything," Tocsin encouraged.

Deetria nuzzled Tocsin spontaneously as the group charged down the stairs. They passed the first floor, and headed to the sub level. She rubbed her eyes with her tail, and breathed deeply. Tocsin observed this as they moved.

Bursting out into the sub-level, Thystian shouted, "REVENGE!!!"

This actually scared some of the Malophiicets, whose orange glows could be seen moving quickly in a direction and disappearing by dropping down into a source of water with a splash. Deetria flared her light, and the Malophiicets shrieked.

Thystian quickly looked around the area. He could not see very well, but there were definitely three sets of doors along the wall to the group's right. One was much closer and was larger. It had a crystal icon with a spike thrusting into it and shattering it. The Crystal Smasher chamber apparently. The next door however had an electrical bolt icon. Thystian charged into this room.

Tocsin and Goldy blazed flames at some of the Malophiicets as they tried to approach. Deetria looked back, seeing Malophiicets creeping out of the stairwell, and squealed in fear. Tocsin swung around to blaze them with flames.

In the electrical room, Thystian could see that the station was intact. There was a large circuit unit, a table, a chair and various electrical components. He quickly checked the main circuit unit, and found it was undamaged. He sighed in relief, and reached for the main power switch. His arm was grabbed by a Malophiicet that he hadn't noticed hiding in the room. The two glared at each other, and proceeded to grapple.

Deetria continued to flare light, but the Malophiicets were now attempting to attack them while covering their eyes. She grew more afraid again, as Tocsin and Goldy backed up to her, still blazing flames.

Thystian, now very tired of dealing with these beings, suddenly shouted in his native language, and his suit turned solid purple, granting him temporary intense strength. He forced the Malophiicet up against a wall, then, clutching her arms, flung her against another wall away from him. She grunted, and climbed to her feet, but was unable to stop Thystian as he stepped up to the switch, and rested his hand on it. He looked back, and the Malophiicet shook her head frantically. He shifted the switch into the "On" position.

Loud electrical humming quickly began to drone in the room, and the sounds of lights flaring on and machinery beginning to activate suddenly filled the entire facility. The whole place was lit up brightly and intensely by huge halogen and florescent lights.

Goldy screamed, "MY EYES!!"

Tocsin and Deetria covered each other's faces with their wings. The Malophiicets however, broke into horrible, wild screaming and wailing, and began to flee from the group in the now very well lit sub floor. They dove into a large pool in the chamber that reached out from a back wall, a wrecked submarine partially visible within it. The crashing of glass echoed all over the facility too, the screams fading with them.

The electrical room was lit by a single incandescent bulb, and thus wasn't as bright. Thystian stood there, looking at the Malophiicet, brushing his hands off. The Malophiicet, squinting with her tiny eyes, gurgled, "I hate you..."

She turned, covering her eyes, and charged out of the room, making a break for the submarine pool, and dove in with a loud splash.

~~06~~

Goldy, his vision having adjusted to the lights, looked around the huge chamber. He took in the horrifying sight of just how much carnage once occurred in this place. Dried blood was spattered all over the floor in large pools. Docked in the submarine pool was a large, tilted and half-sunk submarine. Sitting on the floor beside it in the room was an extensively damaged mini-sub.

Everyone gathered to check on each other, now able to see each other much more clearly. Goldy, looking at himself, said, "Thank goodness holy energies don't leave scars when they heal... I'd be a mess after that..."

Deetria whimpered, and the three looked at her. She hung her head, and said, "I'm so sorry..."

"...For what?" Goldy asked.

"I'm such a wimp... If I had been braver, none of that would have happened to you at all..." she said, upset.

The three gathered closer to her and Tocsin said quietly, "Deetria, it took bravery to overcome your fear in the first place. You've got a strong spirit, you just need to train yourself a little more."

"Yeah," Goldy added, "If you hadn't had that surge of courage, we'd be fish chow right now..."

"I never expected you to be the brave leader Deetria. It's why it's part of my mission to protect you. Plus... I'm sure the others, especially Tocsin, would agree with me in that we wouldn't have you any other way, right?"

Goldy nodded. Tocsin gazed at Deetria and said, "He is right... Your sweetness and innocence is what caught me and reeled me in. I would not change a thing about you."

Deetria blushed at this shower of encouragement, and nuzzled Tocsin. She flew over and hugged Goldy, then moved and hugged Thystian. "I'm still sorry... But from this day on, I'm gonna try and be braver," she said quietly, settling back before Tocsin.

He nodded.

"And now... the Refined ShimmerStone?" Goldy said.

Thystian nodded. Now without concern, the group headed to the stairwell, and up to the main floor. They exited out the damaged back door onto the deck, which was now devoid of Malophiicets. They could see that powerful lights shone all around the edges of the deck, though large sparks splashed up around where the barge had slammed into it. Goldy looked around and at the building, seeing powerful lights shining from its many now broken windows. "They were so desperate to flee the light they jumped out windows..." Goldy said.

Thystian spoke, "They're a deep-sea race. Their fear of light is fitting... Anyway, as for the Refined ShimmerStone... My scans tell me that barge is carrying Raw ShimmerStone. Since the power is back on, and considering nothing was damaged in the refinement chamber, I think we can use the facility itself to make some for ourselves. We'll need to get a few pieces from that barge. Be careful though. That thing is as dark as this place was. There may be more Malophiicets there."

"Right. And good. Then we can get my wing fixed..." Goldy said, looking over his shoulder at his still-mangled wing.

They nodded, and headed toward the barge. Tocsin looked at Deetria during this, and she looked back. "I'm gonna help. I'm gonna be brave, I'm gonna help more, and... I'm gonna stop being a crybaby..." she said softly.

Tocsin surprised Deetria with his own nuzzle, and said, "There we go. That's the right attitude."

Deetria blushed.

Thystian lead the group up the arm of the collapsed crane and hopped down onto the sharply sloping deck of the barge. He saw an orange glow between two crates, and readied his mallet. Goldy hopped down on top of a stable crate and looked around. Tocsin and Deetria flew about overhead to look for ShimmerStone and Malophiicets.

Thystian rushed around the corner, and saw a Malophiicet sitting there, holding her eyes still, and whimpering. He slowly lowered his mallet. Goldy hopped across a crate, and onto another with a latch. He flipped the latch and opened the small door. He peered inside, and was slapped by a fish. He closed the door and grumbled, hopping to another crate. Tocsin and Deetria noticed several orange glows congregated near the back of the barge, around the command station. They stayed away from them however, and watched as Goldy peered into another crate, and exclaimed, "Wow! This is probably it!"

They flew over, while Thystian left the upset Malophiicet and jumped onto the crate Goldy stood on. Goldy took out two, pointy, deep pink stones, and looked at them. "Yes, that's them. Let's go before those Malophiicets get here," Thystian said, pointing at the approaching collection of orange glows.

Moving quickly, Thystian and Goldy jumped back onto the crane arm, and headed back to the station's deck. Hopping off, Thystian lead them to the back door, and in. Heading up the stairs, Thystian stopped at the second floor door, and said to Goldy, "Go in here. I'll head up to the control room above. Take them to the Hopper Loader and wait there."

Goldy nodded, and headed through the door, while Thystian, Tocsin and Deetria continued up the stairs. At the top, they found that the door into the control room was directly in front of the stairs. Passing through, they saw dried blood on the floor, and the window to the back of the room was smashed open. "It's as if... the people who worked here never saw them coming..." Deetria whispered sadly.

"That's likely..." Thystian said as he approached the large control terminal. "They probably snuck in, killed the power, then ambushed everyone while they were waiting for it to come back on..." he finished.

Thystian got the terminal online, while Tocsin and Deetria looked around the room. It was narrow, with a door ahead and another on the same wall as the terminal. They both lead to the catwalks. After checking that all systems were functional, Thystian activated a video comm.

From where Goldy stood, he could look up the Hopper Loader. It was a chute with numerous platforms that would slowly rise up the chute while holding material. It was currently running, slowly humming as it did. Next to it was a terminal with a screen displaying its performance condition. Thystian's face appeared on the terminal, and Goldy looked. He looked at Thystian up in the control room and waved. Thystian waved back, and said through the terminal, "This thing's ready to start the refinement process. Just set the crystals into the chute and watch it go to work."

"Right-o," Goldy responded.

Deetria looked out the window, and could see that all of the conveyor belts were running, and the sounds of the vats being filled with a chemical were heard. The large crane, that consisted of a large magnetic plate the size of the vat itself, had moved to hang over the first of the three vats.

They watched as Goldy set one of the two crystals into one slot in the chute, then set the second one in the next when the platform had become available. He watched as the chute slowly lifted the crystals up to the top. He walked around and could see, suspended from the air, a conveyor belt with sprinklers spraying water onto it. It lead to and cut off at the edge of the first vat. The crystals were lightly tossed off the chute when the platforms were flipped over to go down the back of the chute. They landed with soft thumps onto the conveyor belt, which carried them under the sprinklers. They received a shower to wash off impurities, and the conveyor belt tilted toward slightly before straightening out, allowing them to roll down the tilt and be washed on their undersides. Upon reaching the end, they fell with plunks into the vat, which began to hiss. Thystian set a timer for thirty seconds.

"Thystian..." Deetria said.

He looked at her, and she continued, "I'm sorry... again."

Thystian reached out and gently stroked her head with a finger. He responded, "Deetria, I forgive you."

He had no reason to say it, but he knew it would make her feel better, and it did. She looked at Tocsin.

The timer went off, and Thystian set the crane to lift the crystals. Goldy, using the terminal, asked, "How does that thing lift gemstones?"

"It uses a special frequency that the crystals react to. That's the simple answer, "Thystian replied.

"Ahhh..."

The crane dumped the crystals into the second vat, where they stewed. Thystian set the timer for forty-five seconds.

"No Deetria, I'm not mad at you. None of us are. We were all as scared as you when those things came down on us like they did... You were the bravest of us all, charging into their midst to save us," Tocsin said quietly, gaze locked with Deetria's.

"It was the sight of you being hurt that set me off..." she responded quietly, "Does that make me a bad person?"

"How the heck does responding like that to the sight of your sweetheart being beat to death make you a bad person?" Thystian questioned.

"I still feel guilty... You were being ripped up... Goldy was being eaten... Yet it was Tocsin's being hurt that set me off..." Deetria said, looking away.

"All that does is tell us more about how much you feel for him," Thystian replied.

Deetria looked at Thystian, then at Tocsin. He nodded, and she blushed. She kept quiet.

The timer had gone off, so Thystian set the crane to load the crystals and dump them in the third and final vat. He set the timer for ten seconds.

"How do you know how long they have to stew for?" Tocsin asked, looking out at them through the front window.

"It's a public record on how to refine ShimmerStone," Thystian replied.

The timer went off, and Thystian directed the crane to load the crystals, and drop them into a circular conveyor filled with spinners for sorting. The crystals were directed through a narrowing point in the circular conveyor, where they passed through a cone-shaped beam of orange energy. It caused them to glow powerfully, and flash, before shining a pink that was quite reminiscent of Deetria's own color. The three watched as the crystals were dumped off the conveyor and through a mini-waterfall into a conveyor belt with water flowing over it. Heavy steam rushed off of them as this happened. It dumped them onto a sharply sloped conveyor, where they slid down the little water slide. Goldy walked over to the conveyors, seeing that there were two at his chest height on the floor. The water was dumped down a drain while the stones were pushed onto a ground-level, flat conveyor belt. They moved across it and onto a final one that Goldy stood next to. Thystian stopped the belts as soon as the crystals landed on the final belt. Goldy walked over and looked at his reflection in the Refined ShimmerStone. He checked his teeth again.

Thystian shut down the systems, and drained the vats. He looked at the two little ones, and nodded. They nodded back, and a cold gust of wind blew in through the open window. Tocsin shivered and said, "I am counting down the seconds to us getting off this frigid world..."

Deetria held against him for a minute as they followed Thystian down to the refinement chamber where Goldy waited.

Once they arrived, Thystian stepped over and took the two crystals. He sighed, and said, "The amount of work we've gone through to get these things..."

He looked at the others and continued, "I'm starting to regret dragging you all along on this mission. It's turned out way tougher than I anticipated."

"Like I said before... What's adventure without danger? This'd be boring if it was a cakewalk. And since we have two healers, we're pretty safe I'd wager," Tocsin replied.

"Yeah, I've got no problems here. I'm ready to get off this cold world though," Goldy responded.

"Thystian, if it wasn't for you bringing me along, I'd never have met Tocsin..." Deetria said, looking at Tocsin.

Thystian chuckled slightly, and nodded. He replied, "Points all taken. Now, Goldy, your wing... Turn around."

Goldy complied, and Thystian said, "These things have the healing potential of a Master class healer. The downside is, they only work once... Glad you grabbed two, Goldy."

Thystian then gently touched Goldy's mangled wing with a Refined ShimmerStone. The stone, and the wing, both began to glow, and Goldy gasped in surprise, eyes widening. The stone faded away into Goldy's wing, which snapped back into place and returned to normal, at full strength.

Goldy looked over his shoulder, flapped his wings, and a huge grin formed on his face. He started cheering, dancing, jumping around, then leapt up and started flying around the chamber, laughing and cheering. Deetria giggled, and Tocsin watched in amusement. Thystian stored the second crystal.

Goldy landed, walked over, grabbed Thystian's hand and shook it hard. "NOW I thank you a lot!" he said.

Thystian, understanding he meant this as thanks for both the saving from the Freezing Fog before, as well as the healing now, nodded, returning the shake.

~~07~~

Thystian had lead the group down and out to the back, to the teleport station and communications array, both of which were online. "Gimme a minute. I need to do one last thing..." Thystian said.

Deetria held close to Tocsin to shield him from the cold, and they watched as Thystian accessed the Communications Array, and sent out a signal. They waited a few seconds, before a voice crackled back on the line, "This is FroreStar 1, to S.R.F. Troyal. What is your status? Over."

Thystian replied, "FroreStar 1, this is S.R.F. Troyal. This is Thystian, of NeoSPGXA speaking. This facility has been attacked by a brigand of Malophiicets, and the crew has been slaughtered. We were able to drive the enemies off and restore power to the facility. Highly recommend military force be sent to reclaim the facility before the Malophiicets are able to return. Urgent. Please respond. Over."

After a crackle of static, the voice replied, "Acknowledged Thystian. We are routing the message through to two Nebula Guardians. They will be there in thirty minutes. Stand by for their arrival. Over."

Thystian responded, "Negative FroreStar 1. I have a mission I must complete that involves leaving the planet. I cannot stand by for their arrival. Repeat, I cannot stand by. Over."

There was silence, then a reply, "Confirmed Thystian. Be on your way. Prime watch over you. Over and out."

Thystian ended the transmission. "...'Prime watch over you'? Who's 'Prime'?" Goldy asked.

Thystian, as he set the coordinates for their next destination at the teleport system, replied, "He's the guy that made the Wenonah Galaxy."

Tocsin and Goldy were silent, while Deetria giggled. She nuzzled Tocsin. She then asked, "What's our next planet?"

"Indes," Thystian replied.

Deetria developed an annoyed expression, then gagged disapprovingly.

"...PLEASE tell me it's not a gross planet..." Goldy said, worried.

"Hardly. It's actually the safest planet in the entire galaxy," Thystian replied, directing everyone onto the teleport pad.

"Why did Deetria gag then?" Goldy asked.

No answer was heard, as the system, with a slight spark, warped the group off, and away from the frigid ocean world of FroreAqueaous.

~~08~~

Bubbles could be heard. The submarine slowly bobbed, still half sunk in the submarine dock. The bubbles intensified at the edge, and a large, clawed hand reached out and clutched the ledge. Out, climbed a Malophiicet, boldly, into the terribly bright lights. She turned, looking around. On her face, were a pair of bizarre sunglasses. She grinned, sensing the place was empty again. With a casual stroll, she walked over and into the electrical room.

A click was heard, and the place fell silent and dark as a tomb once again. Then, the silence was broken by raspy cackling, distorted chattering, and the sounds of many wet footfalls. The darkness was broken by swarms of orange orbs emerging from the water.

END

Dragon Tails © Tim Dawson

Wenonah Galaxy © Adrian Smith


	12. 12: Dusty Ocean

Roseus Elementeus

Chapter Twelve – Dusty Ocean

~~00~~

Great nothingness spread out to the horizon. The land, a dull grey. The sky, starry, sunless. A steady wind blew on by. This is the land of Indes, in a region of nowhere.

With a warp-in sound, the group appeared. Thystian and Goldy stood on their feet, while Tocsin and Deetria hovered next to each other in the air next to Thystian. The group remained silent, as they looked around. The wind blew steadily by, the temperature that of a room.

"Yes... Yes! The cold is gone. I can't tell you how relieved I am to be away from it!" Tocsin exclaimed.

"Yeah, but we traded it for this place..." Deetria grumbled.

Goldy stood there, slowly turning around, looking out. As far as he could see by way of the stars' light, he saw nothing. The grey land stretched on as far as the eye could see, absolutely flat. The only objects visible were the occasional pebble breaking the flatness. In the distance he saw a small cloud of dust blow about, then settle down. "...It's very... grey," he commented.

"This is Indes, my friends. Indes, the Indestructible planet. Also known as the grey desert. However... This is NOT the destination I set to the teleporter. We're in the middle of nowhere!" Thystian explained.

"What do you mean?" Tocsin asked, as he too started to gaze about at the vast expanse.

Thystian replied, as he too looked around, "We're looking for an area called the Howling Ravines, a collection of gullies scraped into the land. I set the coordinates for the Waypoint within them, yet we ended up here. Something went wrong... And the bad thing about this place is, it is extremely easy to become completely lost."

Goldy sighed. They were safe, but lost. He wasn't sure which was the lesser of two evils. Tocsin said, "Maybe the Malophiicets damaged that teleporter after all."

"It must've been awfully superficial if I wasn't able to detect it in my scans," Thystian remarked.

"I hate this planet... It's so boring and lifeless," Deetria said, floating next to Tocsin.

Tocsin looked at her, and they shared a glance. Deetria nuzzled Tocsin and said, "Well, at least I still have you."

Tocsin wrapped his tail around hers, and they kept them this way for now.

"Let's move. Standing around is not going to help us find our way," Thystian said.

Goldy nodded. Thystian stood for a moment, then began to walk at a steady pace. The others followed.

As they strode, Goldy noticed that the dust would puff out under their feet whenever they took a step. He watched his own feet, as they slowly became coated in the dust. He noticed some dust blow by in the distance, a low wind blowing. "This place is as dry as a bone," he said. He reached down and scooped a little dust in his hand to look at it closer.

"Thus the alternative name 'grey desert'," Thystian replied.

"What, doesn't it ever rain or anything?" Goldy asked, still walking along.

"This planet is actually farther from the Mynurvah star than FroreAqueaous. Because of the lack of outside heat, the planet has no water cycle. While it does have oceans, lakes, and underground water, there's nothing to cause evaporation, to form clouds, to rain on the land. This planet has no weather, aside from the wind," Thystian explained.

"Isn't the wind caused by the heating effects of a local star?" Tocsin asked.

He glanced at Deetria, whose eyes were half open. She was bored already. Thystian replied, "That's one of two main causes. The other is simply the rotation of the planet, and then there's pressure differences caused by various things. Indes days are only eight Earth hours long, so the rotation causes a lot of wind."

Goldy stopped and looked up at the stars. Sure enough, he could make out that they seemed to be traveling a little faster than what he had seen them do on Earth. As he stargazed, he noticed a huge pink dot in the sky. He blinked, but realized he was being walked away from and moved to follow.

A steady wind blew past, carrying a little dust. Goldy flinched when a slightly bigger dust piece got in his eye. He blinked it out, and kept walking. Noticing a pebble on the ground, he kicked it. It bounced a bit, and when he caught up, he kicked it again. The second time, he picked it up and looked at it as they went.

"You said this was the 'indestructible' planet?" Tocsin asked, trying to pass the time as the group walked.

"That it is. Check this out," Thystian said.

He took his mallet out, raised it, shouted for power to turn both his suit and his mallet solid purple, and struck the ground with so much force it released a shockwave that roared past the group throwing dust into the air. When it cleared, they looked. The ground didn't have the slightest dent.

"So no big alien ships could cut the planet in two or anything?" Goldy asked. He knelt, and scratched at the ground. It felt like granite, and he couldn't dig his claws in.

"Well, depends on the method of attempt," Thystian said, leaning on his mallet.

Deetria giggled, and they looked at her. "You did that because you're frustrated about being lost, didn't you, Thystian? I've seen you do things like that before, and give them good disguises."

Thystian sighed, lowering his head, and they all looked at him now. He replied, "Yes, I admit, I did. I have no freakin' idea where we are, or where we need to go. I KNEW I should have downloaded the Star Charts for this planet before we came here..."

"Ah yes, the stars. That would be the way to figure your way around, wouldn't it?" Tocsin responded.

"I don't see how. Look at 'em go," Goldy said, pointing at the sky.

Everyone looked, and watched as the stars slowly flowed by overhead. "They still work, because the same stars are only in certain places at certain times, Goldy. The planet doesn't randomly shift its rotational direction. It's on an axis as much as Earth is," Thystian noted.

"Hmm. Good point. I've never been that big on astronomy," Goldy said.

The wind blew past, carrying some dust. "See now why I hate this planet?" Deetria said to Tocsin, their tails still together.

"Yeah, but honestly Deetria, I'm glad to be in a safe place. Even if it is boring," he replied.

Deetria cooed at Tocsin, and nuzzled him. Goldy smiled. Thystian listened, as the wind moaned around them. He said, "Keep an ear to the wind. We're looking for a region that produces a very distinct howling sound."

They nodded, and resumed course.

Deetria, bored out of her mind, tickled Tocsin's chin with her feather tail. He emitted a purr that got Thystian laughing as he strode. Deetria then squealed, "Can't catch me!" and zoomed away from Tocsin.

"Oh you!" he shouted with an amused tone, as he sped after her.

Thystian and Goldy, steadily walking, watched as the two flew around and around, up and down and all over the place. Deetria giggled and squealed when Tocsin would nearly catch her. They zoomed by over Goldy's head.

Tocsin had eventually caught Deetria and tickled her with his tail. She laid flat on her back on the ground wiggling and giggling. Thystian stood, staring off into the distance. A deep greyness had filled the air, blocking out some of the stars on the horizon. The sound of the wind intensifying could be heard, and Thystian tensed. Goldy noticed, and observed as the wind's sound grew into, not a howl, but a roar. Thystian frantically pulled some scrap cloths out of his inventory. "...You've got just about everything in there but for the kitchen sink, don't you?" Goldy asked.

"That and a Sonic Screwdriver... That whole incident in that refinery wouldn't have been so bad if I had one. Anyway, put this on... now. Cover your eyes with it," Thystian replied.

"That's a humongous duststorm, isn't it?" Goldy asked, as he blindfolded himself.

"It is... Tocsin! Deetria!" he exclaimed.

They looked up at him, and noticed the grey mass approaching quickly. Deetria squealed in fear. "Cover your faces!" Thystian exclaimed.

Tocsin and Deetria quickly buried their faces in each others' wings, and laid flat on the ground. Thystian laid flat on his front, face down, and Goldy lay on his belly as well, covering his nostrils.

Soon, the huge dust cloud was upon the group, and it engulfed them with intense, dust-enveloped winds. The roar was deafening, and Goldy, Tocsin and Deetria felt like they were being buried in dust. The storm roared and roared, for what felt like a good thirty minutes to them.

In reality, as fast as it arrived, the massive surge of flying ground passed by, and things fell calm again. The group slowly peeked out of the newly laden dust on top of them. Goldy hacked and coughed, spitting dust out of his mouth, while Tocsin and Deetria rose into the air, and shook themselves to rid their small bodies of the invasive dirt. Thystian climbed to his feet and muttered, "...It's going to take days for me to clean this dust out of my suit..."

Goldy stood up and shook the dust off of him, and looked around. The land had not changed at all. Deetria exclaimed, "Did I mention how much I HATE THIS PLANET?!"

~~01~~

The group had been wandering for some time now. It felt like hours, and it was according to Indes Time. Thystian had noted though that it hadn't been more than at least a couple of Earth hours.

"I spy with my little eye, something tall and grey!" Deetria sang cutely.

"Thystian covered in dust?" Goldy asked, looking at Thystian, who grumbled.

"Nope! Look!" Deetria exclaimed, and they looked ahead.

Emerging from the dimly lit distance was a tree. Very tall, it must have been several dozen feet in height. Its branches began emerging from the trunk relatively low, and its thick leafy growth hung limp like that of a willow. The leaves swayed when an occasional breeze blew past. Its coloration was entirely of different shades of grey. Even the leaves. Yet it still looked as though it were alive.

"Ahh, an Indestree," Thystian stated.

"I don't see smokestacks," Goldy said, with just a faint look of mischief.

"Indes – tree. Not industry," Thystian said without looking.

"I know, I'm just trying to keep my sanity in this boring place," Goldy responded.

Deetria giggled, and Tocsin was amused. The group approached the tree.

Deetria lead Tocsin up into the thick foliage of the tree, and the two perched on branches near the top, giving them a view of the glorious vista of the stars, and the glaringly pink moon in the sky. They held silent for a few minutes, watching the stars slowly flow across the sky, though the moon did not move nearly as fast. "A splash of color on the otherwise monochrome skyscape," Tocsin noted.

"It's so pretty... It's the only thing about this planet that I like, is its lovely moon. So pink and beautiful," Deetria said softly.

"Is that Shiko, your homeworld?" Tocsin asked, looking at Deetria.

She giggled, and replied, "No no... Shiko's an independent planet. That up there is planet Poppy, Indes' moon. It's blanketed by an endless landscape of pretty flowers. They make the cutest little popping noises when they blow in the wind or are disturbed by bugs or people."

"Huh. That's interesting. I get the name at least," Tocsin remarked.

Deetria giggled, and leaned against Tocsin. She sighed contentedly. "You seem very well traveled, Deetria. At least half of the planets we've been to you've been familiar with," Tocsin remarked, looking at the sky again.

"Mmm. I love my homeworld, but I love the other planets of the Wenonah Galaxy too! I want to visit them all some day, when I get the chance. This has been a wonderful experience for me, cause I have to admit, I haven't actually done that much traveling. I've learned what I know mostly through sources of information... I'm so happy I've finally gotten the chance to visit other planets, as scary as it has been at times." she replied, looking at Tocsin.

Tocsin nodded, resting against her still, and the two fell silent, gazing at the stars. Deetria sighed again, ever so content.

Goldy took a seat at the base of the tree when the group arrived. He began picking at his toes and other nooks and crannies in his body, getting out Indes dust that had gotten into places they should not have. He observed as Thystian took from his inventory the mapping device he had used on Coll.

At first, Thystian attempted to jab the spike-end into the ground. Needless to say, this failed, and nearly crumpled the tip. Thystian sighed, and Goldy kept quiet. Thystian switched the stake out for a tripod, and began working with the device.

Goldy sighed, leaning back against the tree, and looked out into the distance. He kept silent for a time. Thystian broke the silence then, as he said, "Goldy. Are you feeling homesick?"

Goldy sat forward a bit, surprised, and replied, "You're a lot more perceptive than I thought..."

"Considering you've been traveling through alien worlds with two people you'd never met before, I wouldn't blame you for missing your more placid life on Earth with your friends and family," Thystian said, as the device swept its scanning beam outward.

"You say that as if I don't consider you and Deetria friends," Goldy remarked, an eye narrowed.

"Well, we're new friends, so..." Thystian said, trailing off.

"And you've saved me and helped me countless times, and I the same. We're all close friends now. If ever the opportunity arises, I'll try to find a way to get back here, or invite you to my place," Goldy said with a smile.

Thystian slowly looked up at Goldy, and said, "Thanks... Though that reminds me... You two might want to begin consideration of the fact that, with this being the last Element NeoSPGXA needs, you two will be heading home soon."

Goldy's eyes widened, a look of dread forming on his face. Thystian saw this, and looked behind himself. There was nothing. He looked at Goldy again, and saw him staring up into the tree. He slowly stood straight, tensing as well. They observed Tocsin and Deetria at the top of the tree, cuddling, close to each other.

"...I'm not going to consider it, Thystian... I'm going to dread it..." Goldy responded, with a very worried tone.

"You've made me realize the same thing..." Thystian said, quietly.

Silence fell for several minutes, then the wind blew through, gently moving the hanging foliage of the Indestree.

This was followed by a beeping sound on Thystian's mapping device. He checked it, then grunted in annoyance when it stated that the extent of the land is too vast for an accurate reading. The most it was able to provide were the cardinal directions. Thystian learned from this that they had headed north, as he had thought when he started the trip. He put away the device, and sighed. He walked over to the eastward face of the tree, knelt, and used binoculars to scour the eastern horizon. He was unable to see anything, and stood up. He grumbled quietly, and faced the group. "When everyone's ready, we're going to head east. We'll just keep scouring the land in the hopes of finding our destination," he announced.

"I wish we had a jeep or a dune buggy or a Warthog or something..." Goldy mumbled, getting to his feet.

Deetria and Tocsin left their perch at the top of the tree, and flew down to Thystian. He nodded at the group, and they returned it. Turning, Thystian headed east, and the group followed, calmly talking.

~~02~~

"Are we there yet?" Deetria said.

"How should I know?" Thystian replied, "We're heading east, that's all I know."

The group walked for a time.

"Are we there yet?" Deetria said, a slight teasing tone.

"I have no idea, Deetria... We're moving eastward still," Thystian replied.

After several more minutes, the group had not seen anything more than a few billows of dust around them.

"Are we there yet?" Deetria said, clearly saying this now just to tease Thystian.

"Yeah, we're here. Wherever 'here' is," Thystian replied.

"East?" Goldy said with a grin.

"I am going to shoot you in the face with a bazooka," Thystian retorted.

Goldy just laughed.

A strange noise echoed in the distance. Everyone stopped. They looked in the direction of the noise, but couldn't see anything just yet. They slowly resumed pace. After several minutes, a distant, drawn out horn-like noise was heard. "Was that a truck horn?" Goldy asked, stopped again.

"No... That sounds like the call of an Ovitrochatus..." Thystian said, noticing faint lights on the horizon.

"Ovi-whatakus?" Goldy asked.

The group headed in the direction of the sounds and lights. They heard more of the horn-like calls, and soon, they could see a herd of simply huge animals casually strolling. "Ooo..." Deetria cooed.

"Ovitrochatus, Goldy. They're an Indes species of large roaming animal," Thystian explained.

Goldy took in the sight of the enormous, grey-shaded, strolling beasts. They were very large indeed, easily the size of a cube van. They had six legs, one set as a single pair in the front, while there were two pairs in the back. They exhaled a visible gas that Goldy could swear resembled exhaust fumes. Beams of light could be seen shining from their large, round eyes. They had a massive, bony, if not metallic, plate-like formation on their foreheads, shaped like a large flat shield. These formations appeared larger on some than others. Also on their heads, were a pair of tall horns, pointed forward and ending wide open, seemingly hollow. Goldy noticed more of the visible fumes burst from the horns when one of the creatures trumpeted, the sound coming from the horns themselves. The creatures' bodies were boxy, and covered from head to toe in thick, grey hair that draped to near the ground. A tiny little tail peeked out from under their hair in back.

"They look like furry, walking trucks!" Goldy exclaimed.

Deetria swooped off toward the creatures, and Tocsin exclaimed, "Deetria wait! Crap! Are they dangerous?!"

Thystian shook his head as he replied, "No, Tocsin. No native creatures to Indes are dangerous. This is an exchange for indestructibility. Every creature on the planet, that is native to it, is as invincible as the planet itself."

Tocsin was quiet, then followed after Deetria. Goldy, encouraged by Thystian's statement, headed toward the beasts as well, and Thystian decided to follow along.

Tocsin watched as Deetria flew in amongst the herd and flew about, giggling. "Such funny animals!" she squealed.

The creatures lowed quietly, some licking dust off the ground on occasion, before resuming their casual stroll. Goldy stepped up to one, touched its leg. He found that it had a thin, velvety fur covering it, though the leg itself felt hard as rock. "Packed with muscle. No surprise there," he remarked.

Deetria flitted by, and flew up in front of one of the creatures. She looked closely at it's face. It focused one of its beams of eye light on her, and she giggled. It resumed its sweeping motion of its eyes across the ground. The herd was completely placid.

Deetria flitted about still, while Goldy noticed he was being watched, as the two beams of light from one of the creatures was focused on him. It lumbered up calmly, and sniffed. Goldy sniffed back. "...Smells like the dust itself," he said.

Thystian just stood by, arms crossed. He chuckled when Goldy was licked by the Ovitrochatus, making Goldy laugh. The creature moved on, and Goldy walked over to Thystian. "The fact they emit light from their eyes is really cool," he said.

Thystian spoke, "Yeah, it helps them see well during dust storms. I'm afraid this herd's not going to be able to help us or lead is to the Howling Ravines however, so I think we should move on."

"Right," Goldy said.

Deetria flitted about, giggling, and landed on the back of one of the creatures. Dust puffed up when she did, and she broke into coughing. Tocsin flew up to her and said, "That's no surprise... Come on Deetria, we should go."

Deetria sighed, floating up and shaking the dust off. She nuzzled Tocsin, and they joined back with Thystian and Goldy. The group headed onward, east, according to Thystian.

~~03~~

Some time had passed. Breaking out of the darkness ahead, the group saw an Indestree. "...No way... Is that... is that the SAME TREE?" Tocsin exclaimed.

"...It is... Dang it, I must've gotten us turned around out there..." Thystian said, muttering.

The group drew near to the tree, and sure enough, it was the same tree. Deetria decided to return to her perch up at the top, and Tocsin followed. Thystian, however, was clearly annoyed. "Dang it, what did I do wrong here..? I could have sworn we were still heading east," he said.

"Maybe we went all the way around the planet?" Goldy suggested.

"Indes is as big as Earth, Goldy..." Thystian replied.

"Then I don't know..." Goldy replied, heading over and sitting under the tree again.

Thystian grumbled, "I should have downloaded and STUDIED those star charts... That's the only way to prevent being lost on this world..."

"Star charts... Man, it's been so long since I've used my mapping abilities, I forgot I had them!" Tocsin exclaimed.

"Oh yeah! You could make your own charts, Tocsin!" Goldy responded from below.

"You have mapping abilities?" Deetria asked.

Tocsin nodded. Spreading his wings, and gazing to the stars, he began to project all around his body a large, holographic display of the stars above. Deetria's eyes widened. "Ohhh... That's so beautiful!" She exclaimed.

She watched as his holographic projections moved as the stars did, and more detail began to develop within the display. While she watched, awed by Tocsin's display, Thystian worked with his mapping device below.

Goldy, also watching the stars, could swear he saw a constellation that looked like Bluey's head. He began to imagine Bluey's face there, and shook his head hard to clear it. "...I AM getting homesick..." he said quietly. He looked up at Tocsin above the tree, through its foliage, and added, "...This is not going to end well, I just know it... Somebody's gonna be hurt before this is over..."

The wind had picked up again, churning into intensity. The distinct roar of a dust storm became recognizable. With a yelp, Goldy scrambled up the tree. Thystian put away his equipment quickly, and rushed under the tree, standing on the opposite face of the tree to the wind. Deetria exclaimed, "Tocsin... we gotta hide!"

"I've... almost... established... a pattern!" he said, focusing.

With a squeal, Deetria wrapped her tail around Tocsin's and dragged him into the thick foliage of the tree, aborting his charting process. Shortly, the tree was engulfed by the monstrous wall of flying land. Goldy, Deetria and Tocsin noticed how the dust was unable to reach in to them through the thick foliage of a tree that was no doubt designed to resist such weather. They could hear Thystian grumbling, below them. "I am NEVER going to be able to clean my suit of all this crap now..." he said, annoyed.

"He's getting tired... I can tell..." Deetria whispered to Tocsin and Goldy.

They slowly nodded. "I am too..." Goldy said, "I mean, I kinda LIKE this planet, and it's great that it's so quiet and peaceful, but we haven't had a decent rest since Gravairna, and that was hours ago, maybe even a day or more. With the adrenaline rushes of FroreAqueaous wearing off, it's getting hard to focus."

"Try some more Energy Seeds!" Deetria suggested.

"...Ya know, this bag is so light that I'd actually forgotten about it," Goldy said, as he clutched the Spilievern Pouch and got some seeds out. He ate them, and felt a rush of energy return to him. He grinned, and said, "That'll do!"

Thystian spoke from below, having heard what they were saying, despite the raging, dusty winds, "Don't get too reliant on them. Their effects last for shorter durations the longer you stay up, and exhaustion toxins will start to make you sick and delirious despite the energy you have to keep moving. As soon as we find a suitable place, we'll get some rest."

"Right," Goldy responded.

After some time, the storm passed, and the dragons descended from the Indestree to find Thystian's normally purple and green armor covered in dust. He grumbled. Deetria sighed sadly.

"Let's just go. We're heading west this time..." Thystian said.

They nodded, keeping quiet, and moved to the west, Thystian leading.

~~04~~

Having wandered for some time, Goldy had taken to juggling a number of small rocks he'd been gathering. Deetria giggled at the sight, while Thystian scoured the land ahead. Tocsin gazed at the pink moon of Poppy, and for a moment he saw Deetria's face in it. He blinked, and after a second, a dark look formed on his face. "_The end is near..._" he thought, and he looked at Deetria. His breathing became ragged for a moment, before he shook his head to recover.

"Hay! Is that color I see? That's weird..." Deetria said, looking ahead of the group.

Goldy caught his rocks and looked ahead with the rest. In the distance, a glint of color could indeed be seen. It seemed to shine just slightly. The group looked at each other, then moved toward the source of the color.

As they drew closer, the color became more distinguishable against the greys and blacks of the backdrop. Thystian said, "...Red... Any color on this planet is something foreign. I don't like the looks of this... Be on guard. This area may not be as safe as I first thought."

Deetria groaned, while Goldy and Tocsin sighed in unison. They exchanged a glance.

The redness continued to reach out some distance, and soon the group had approached closely enough to see detail. Deetria's eyes widened, and Thystian tensed. Goldy and Tocsin noticed, and looked out at the sight.

Before them lay a vast yard of strange orbs of a ruby-like stone, with many spikes protruding all over them. They looked almost like huge, beachball-sized spores. Deetria's eyes narrowed, her forehead feather rose to stand straight, and her tail feather bristled. Tocsin immediately noticed an uncharacteristic aggression beginning to develop in her. Thystian, too, immediately drew his mallet on sight of the scads of spores.

"Whoa, hey, what's wrong guys?" Goldy asked.

Thystian, a tone of strange aggression in his voice, said, "Those... are Red Ones... Red One Orbs to be exact... They are THE most wicked race in the Wenonah Galaxy..."

Deetria commented, her voice carrying unnatural aggression, "They invaded our Galaxy a decade ago and nearly destroyed the whole thing... Our greatest heroes were able to drive them off, but it wasn't without many casualties..."

Thystian continued, "Their remnants scattered into pockets throughout this Galaxy to planets mostly uninhabited. They are not welcome in our Galaxy. They must be destroyed!"

"Payment for all those billions of lives lost!" Deetria squealed in anger.

Goldy and Tocsin were shocked by this sudden hostility in the two. They noticed now however that the Red One Orbs had begun to rise into the air, shimmering and generating strange energy tones.

With a roar from Thystian and a harsh squeal from Deetria, the two charged at the Orbs, which also charged, spikes shimmering. Goldy and Tocsin yelped, and rushed to help.

The Orbs swarmed at the four, and quickly began to attempt slamming attacks with their spikes. Thystian, with angry grunts, swung his mallet hard, smashing at the Orbs. He leapt, and with a roar he brought his mallet down on one, the impact shattering it. It broke into many ruby pieces, which disintegrated to join the grey dust of the land.

Deetria wasted no time to begin attacking, blasting huge bursts of light energy at the Orbs. They jolted, many developing large cracks, and all being knocked back. One attempted to slam Deetria, but she swooped up to avoid, and blasted it from above, destroying it with a light blast.

Goldy yelped, being struck, and the spikes almost pierced his hide, though they did sting badly. Goldy blasted flames at the Orb, damaging it severely. Another slammed against Goldy from behind, and he hopped slightly, doing a twirl and slammed his tail into it, shattering it.

Tocsin was partially distracted by Deetria's very uncharacteristic rage, and was slammed by an Orb. He yelled out, and turned, blasting it with plasma flames. This attack destroyed it, but several more swarmed at him at once. He released a discharge of plasma energy to blow them away, then fired a plasma fireball at one that was nearly about to strike Deetria from behind, destroying it.

They were destroying the orbs quickly, yet there seemed to still be dozens more of them all around, swarming about and attacking whenever the opportunity arose.

Thystian, with rage filled yells, swung his mallet, hitting an Orb and launching it into two others. The impact destroyed the three of them at once. Thystian threw his mallet at another, shattering it on impact, and the heavy projectile returned to him. He was smashed in the back by two Orbs, and staggered forward. With a snarl, he swung his mallet around and launched the two orbs, and a third that happened to enter the path of his swing, resulting in a crashing impact with other Orbs.

Deetria, squealing angrily, swept her light energy beams around, doing extensive damage to many Orbs at once. They continued to swarm, and one struck her from behind. She hissed at the thing, before blasting it point blank with a huge burst of light energy, cracking it severely. It backed away, and headed toward a cluster of three other extensively damaged Orbs.

The group noticed that once the forth orb reached them, they begin to break apart, transforming into various shapes, which then began to fuse around a glowing orb of red energy. The parts came together, and with a flash, they could see a new creature amidst the swarms of enemy orbs. It had a vaguely humanoid appearance, but like the orbs, its body appeared to be made of a gemstone like ruby. Its limbs were long, featureless spikes. Its head was tear-drop shaped, though the point was upward and very long, like a horn. It did not appear to have a face, but just a red glow in the center of the facial area. A similar glow existed on the center of its chest. It emitted a shimmering sound, as it floated in the air.

"What is that?!" Goldy shouted, beating back waves of the Red One Orbs.

Thystian, with rage in his voice, shouted, "A TRUE Red One! That one's a male! And it's going DOWN!!"

He flung his mallet at the thing, but it shifted off to the side to avoid the attack, before countering by super-rapidly spraying red lasers at Thystian. The mallet returned to its owner, and Thystian cartwheeled to avoid the lasers before leaping at the enemy, roaring. He slammed his hammer down, but the creature caught the attack with its spike-tipped limbs. The impact of the irresistible force meeting the unmovable object caused a shockwave to roar over the area, damaging everyone, from the Orbs to the dragons.

Deetria shrieked angrily, and blasted light energy at more Orbs as they began to recover and swarm again. Goldy quickly started firing his Healing Beams at Tocsin and Deetria, and was hit from behind again by an orb. He swung around and blasted it away with a fireball. Tocsin released a trio of plasma orbs, their detonations destroying yet more orbs.

Thystian performed a midair flip away from the Red One, then started running sideways to avoid the laser spray. He flung his mallet hard, and the creature was struck this time as it focused on Thystian. It jolted hard, ceased its firing, and the weapon returned to Thystian.

Everyone noticed another flash, and saw another batch of badly damaged Red One Orbs fuse into a true Red One. It looked identical to the other. It started spraying lasers at Goldy, who yelled out, and ran from the shots. He jumped into the air and started flying about. Swooping to avoid lasers, he flew over the Red One, blazing flames down on it as he did. It seemed to take damage, though it was hard to tell, as it rotated in the air to keep shooting at Goldy.

Tocsin flew to Deetria and exclaimed, "Deetria! Calm down!"

Deetria looked at Tocsin, and he could see into her eyes. There was a burning rage there he had never seen before. As he gazed, he realized that the rage was not Deetria's. It was foreign. Tocsin backed away slowly. Deetria twitched, then seemed to fire her light energy at Tocsin. Paralyzed by this sudden action, Tocsin closed his eyes suddenly. He slowly opened his eyes when he felt nothing, and looked back to see she had blasted an Orb that was speeding in from behind. Deetria swooped off to attack more Orbs.

Tocsin watched her, having fallen silent. His eyes then narrowed. He joined in the attack.

Another flash, and a third true Red One had formed from the corpses of the Orbs. There were only a few Orbs left now, but it was clear that the true Red Ones were the real danger.

The third Red One immediately shot toward Deetria and attempted a stab attack. She moved up suddenly to avoid it, and blasted the enemy in the face with a large discharge of light energy. It jolted back hard, before spraying lasers at Deetria point blank. She swooped to avoid this attack.

Goldy flew by, spitting fireballs at his enemy. The Red One took the hits, with jolts, and emitted a shimmering sound. It discharged erratic branches of sparkling energy. Suddenly the branches ignited into powerful blasts. Goldy yelped, swooping down hard to avoid as one of the blasts nearly connected with him. He swung around in the air and shot more fireballs at the enemy, which took the hits.

Thystian, voice still filled with blind rage, had switched to his bow, and was relentlessly exchanging fire with his enemy, using Amethyst Arrows solely. The shots seemed to damage the Red One, who was countering with lasers, which hit Thystian frequently, but he ignored the hits, despite his armor sparking with them.

Seeing the last few Orbs were after him, Tocsin converted to ball plasma form, and raced at one. On impact, he bounced off of it into another. Then another. Rapidly he bounced around among the orbs, damaging them all, until they shattered when hit. He ended this as soon as they were gone, and floated, looking out at Deetria.

She squealed with rage, blasting huge bolts of light energy at the Red One. It suddenly brought its feet and hand tips together, then pulled them away, with crackling red energy meeting up at a central orb between them. The Red One jolted when it began to fire a huge column of red and white energy. Deetria seemed to be engulfed by this attack. Tocsin roared, and raced toward the creature to stop the attack. It turned its head and looked at Tocsin, before sweeping the attack around at him. Tocsin swerved upward, and flew in a shrinking orbit around the Red One. He noticed during a flyby that Deetria had Phased herself to evade the attack. Blind with rage still, she released Status Waves at the Red One. After the gentle distortion effect, the Red One immediately ceased the attack and started dancing in the air. Its body moved independent of its head, as it looked around frantically, emitting strange shimmering noises that sounded like panic.

Tocsin noticed and narrowed an eye. He watched in shock as Deetria, with a raging squeal, blasted the creature with an orb of light that exploded brightly on impact. The Red One's loud shimmering could be heard. When the light cleared, the Red One had shattered, and slowly disintegrated.

Deetria, snarling, looked toward the one that Goldy was still trying to fight, and zoomed in to attack. Tocsin floated there, silent, afraid of what might have come over Deetria.

Thystian was fleeing the Red One's huge red and white beam, and performed a mighty leap. He landed on his Hoverboard and swooped around, bringing out his mallet. As soon as he got close enough, he smashed it into the Red One on passing. The Red One, mostly out of reaction, spun around and raked the beam across Thystian. He yelled out, flying off his Hoverboard and crashed into the dusty ground below. The board slowed to a stop and faded away. Thystian's armor crackled dangerously, but he climbed to his feet, and turned, looking up at the Red One. Without a word, he leapt to attack, bringing his mallet over his head.

Goldy continued to avoid laser spray and blazed flames on the thing every time he passed it. He yelped when a powerful flash of light struck the Red One from behind. He saw Deetria buzzing in, and she pummeled the creature with her light energy attacks. It kept firing at Goldy however, and Goldy was struck in the side from a laser while distracted by Deetria. He yelled out, the laser doing a lot more damage than he'd expected, and he spiraled down, crashing into the ground. Tocsin flew to him, and Goldy got up, shaking from the pain. "Goldy... Those Red Ones... I think they've driven our friends mad!"

"I noticed... Ow..." Goldy replied, checking the injury.

"Goldy listen!" Tocsin shouted, getting in Goldy's face. Goldy flinched, looking intently at Tocsin now. He resumed, "We've got to do something! That rage I saw in Deetria's eyes... It wasn't her's... It's like these things are projecting the rage into them!"

"What do you suggest? I mean, we know nothing about these things. Wouldn't destroying them stop the rage?" Goldy asked.

"I don't know... But I'm really worried. Deetria and Thystian have gone insane, and I'm afraid that might STAY after they kill those things!" Tocsin exclaimed.

"But it also might not. If it does, then I'd say there's something else here projecting it instead of them. Let's just help stop those things! They're not indestructible like this planet is!" Goldy stated.

Tocsin looked on at Deetria as she squealed with rage, blasting the Red One, the being now fighting back against her. Tocsin flinched when Goldy put a hand on his back, and looked. Goldy was smiling. "Go help your girlfriend, Tocsin. I'll help Thystian," he said.

Tocsin slowly nodded. He turned, and flew up to Deetria. Goldy ran toward the one fighting Thystian.

Goldy first fired his healing beams at Thystian. These healed him, and he looked at Goldy, then back at the Red One, and leapt to avoid an attack. Goldy shot a fireball at the Red One, throwing off its aim, while Thystian threw his mallet, causing it to jolt hard, and crack.

Tocsin flew up to Deetria and suddenly landed on top of her, entwining his neck and tail around her's. She squealed and wiggled, but stopped after a second. She looked at Tocsin, and he gazed back. "T... Tocsin?" she said, softly.

Tocsin replied, "Deetria, what's wrong with you?!"

Deetria whimpered, "I don't know Tocsin... Something's... There's something in my head... I hear voices... screaming and wailing... Screaming for me to kill the Red Ones... It hurts!"

"Let's do just that! Maybe that'll stop it! But you need to focus... Focus your thoughts. I will lend you my warmth..." Tocsin replied.

Deetria whimpered, and closed her eyes. Tocsin moved them to avoid the Red One's laser fire, and countered with an orb of plasma. It jolted, and Tocsin took the opportunity to start charging energy. He whispered, "With me, Deetria..."

She whimpered, then growled, then whimpered again, trying to focus and build her energy.

Thystian, seeing Tocsin and Deetria, began to twitch... "Dee... tria..." he whispered, before snarling. He suddenly threw his mallet at the Red One, and it took the hit, cracking more.

Goldy, noticing this, charged at Thystian and tackled him to the ground. Thystian roared, and grabbed Goldy by the neck. Goldy, gagging, yelled, "THYSTIAN! Ack... THINK OF– URK! THINK OF ZESSTA!"

Thystian froze upon hearing the name. Goldy cringed, being blasted hard in the back by the lasers of the Red One. "Zessta..." Thystian said softly... "ZESSTA!!" he wailed. "HELP ME!!!" he screamed, throwing Goldy away. Thystian rolled over onto his front, curled up, screaming still.

Goldy rolled along and ended up on his seat. He looked at the sight, and narrowed his eyes at the Red One. "These things must have some kind of insanity-inducing aura... And apparently it only works on Wenonaens... No wonder billions of lives were lost. DIE!" Goldy shouted, in an non-rage-inflicted voice.

He swooped up and toward the Red One. He decked it across the face, kicked it in the back of the head, and knee-slammed it in the gut. He blasted it in the chest with the biggest fireball he had ever mustered, and the attack blasted the Red One into pieces, the shards flying off and disintegrating into the air. Goldy looked over at Tocsin and Deetria, then down at Thystian, and flew down to him.

Tocsin continued to whisper to Deetria, and held close to her. She struggled to keep control of herself, but was starting to lose it again. Tocsin noticed, and decided he couldn't wait any longer. He flew toward the Red One, eyes narrowed, swooping and swerving to avoid the laser fire. As soon as he reached the enemy, he raised his head, and blasted out a concentrated beam of plasma energy. The beam spread out like a cone, and engulfed the Red One. With an echoing blast, the Red One was destroyed, leaving nothing but shimmering red dust in the air.

Tocsin exhaled, and panted. He yelped, feeling Deetria go limp under him, and strained to keep from falling hard to the ground below. Goldy too noticed Thystian flop onto his side once the last Red One was destroyed. "Oh dragon no..." Goldy said, and he blasted Thystian with his Purity Rings. Thystian didn't seem to react.

With grunts, Tocsin carried Deetria down and settled to the ground by Goldy and Thystian. "We destroyed them, but now Thystian's unconscious..." Goldy said.

"Deetria too..." Tocsin said, a very worried tone to his voice.

Goldy blasted Tocsin and Deetria both with his healing beams, and Tocsin released her, before hovering very close. He gazed at her inactive face. He looked up at Goldy, and back down.

They simply waited, for what seemed like hours to them.

Goldy sat, covering his eyes, trying to think about their situation. Tocsin had laid his head on Deetria's, in dead silence. But after several minutes, Tocsin yelped. Goldy quickly looked at him, and noticed that he had raised his head and was looking at Deetria. "WHAT?!" Goldy yelled.

"She twitched! She's alive!" Tocsin yelled. He nudged Deetria with a wing, and Deetria groaned.

Goldy heard Thystian groan shortly after, and his eyes widened. Thystian slowly rolled onto his back, and laid there.

Everything... blurry... Everything... dark... Suddenly Goldy popped into view from the starry scene above, and Thystian yelled out. Goldy screamed, "YOU'RE ALIVE!!" He stopped, then added, "...and sane?"

Thystian replied quietly, "...Zessta... I will come back to you when this is over... I promise..."

Goldy sighed, flopping back into a sitting position. He looked over, seeing Deetria and Tocsin silent and in a gaze. He watched as Thystian sat upright suddenly, and shook his head. "I... hate... Red Ones..." Thystian said.

He looked at Goldy, who had a big, happy expression. Thystian sighed, and said, "Dude, thanks... If it wasn't for that Zessta thing, I'd be gone."

"What HAPPENED exactly?" Goldy asked. He and Thystian watched as Tocsin and Deetria pressed their faces together gently, eyes deeply locked. They suddenly clung to each other and Deetria burst out crying.

Thystian explained, "Red Ones are a creation of a very powerful and wicked being from another galaxy and dimension. We're thinking Andromeda, but we're not sure. We haven't traced their source... Either way, they generate a psionic frequency that is tuned to the unique frequency of the galaxy they're invading. This frequency instills rage and hatred to the point of insanity in their victims... We're STILL losing people to the pockets of these beings... We would not have survived if you guys, who happened to be from a different galaxy than ours, had not been with us. Seems we all owe each other our lives now. Now, we are a true team."

Goldy helped Thystian get up, and nodded at him. They watched as Tocsin clung to Deetria, with what looked like tears in his own eyes, as Deetria bawled.

~~05~~

Deetria clung to Tocsin as the group dragged themselves across the grey desert of Indes. In the distance, a grey tree came into view. "Oh 'Fernaous no..." Thystian said quietly.

Goldy ran toward the tree, which was the same Indestree as before. He glomped it. Thystian walked to the tree, and, with a huff, sat at the base of it. Deetria kept with Tocsin as they headed to the perch at the top, and Tocsin began star mapping again.

"I'd take this Indestree over those Red Ones any day!" Goldy said, still hugging the tree.

"I hate being lost... I never get lost... This isn't right, man..." Thystian complained.

Goldy sat beside him and laid back. He let the injuries he'd sustained slide for now, while Deetria was preoccupied with recovering from the recent traumatizing incident.

Trying to steer the subject to something else, Goldy asked, "How do these trees stay alive in this empty desert?"

Thystian looked up at the tree, and said, "The only thing that can harm something from Indes, is something else from Indes. These trees can dig their roots into the ground, and they dig very deep. There's a water table down there, and most of these great trees gain their nourishment from that water."

"Cool. Man, I'd like to have one of these for our forest. I could hide in it whenever one of Bluey's experiments goes wrong," Goldy remarked.

Thystian actually chuckled a little, and sighed. "Goldy, I must say that you've really helped us a lot in this mission. Not just through your aid in the fighting and healing assistance, but you've also kept our morale up with all those silly things you say. I want to thank you for that."

Goldy gestured dismissingly with a hand and replied, "Aww shucks."

Thystian laughed a little.

"Ahh... There we go," Tocsin said.

Deetria, enamored by Tocsin's holographic display, cooed. He ended it, and flew down to Thystian. With a squeak, Deetria followed. Thystian looked at Tocsin when he approached. Before Tocsin could speak, however, Goldy spoke up, "Deetria, could you heal me, please? I got some bad laser blasts on my back..."

Deetria nodded, with a sad expression, and used her holy energy to heal Goldy. He sighed, then nodded at Tocsin. Tocsin spoke, "I may have figured out our problem. We've strayed in a clover-leaf formation. We'd head east, but curve and come back in from the south. We'd head west, but curve and come back in from the north. We've still got north itself to travel."

Thystian climbed to his feet, and sighed. "I guess that's all we've got left. Let's go then. And if we don't find it, I'm gonna give up," Thystian replied, sounding quite tired.

"Thystian! How could you say that?" Deetria squealed, "We've come so far, only to give up? That's crazy talk! I chalk that up to you being so tired. Come on, let's go find those... the... You never told us what you were after."

"Howling Ravines. They conceal some Petrified Poppy, which NeoSPGXA needs," Thystian stated.

"Huh... Petrified Poppy?" Goldy asked.

The group headed north, and Thystian stated, "The flowers of Planet Poppy sometimes manage to get down to this planet somehow. This harsh and dry environment causes them to petrify, where they gain special properties. They are extremely difficult to find. If I had thought ahead about this and acquired those charts, we'd already have found them I bet..."

"Come on, let's just walk for a bit and try to calm down. We just had a very... scary experience..." Deetria said quietly.

Thystian sighed. Goldy nodded however. Deetria kept close to Tocsin, as they headed on.

~~06~~

The sound of water drew Goldy's and Deetria's attention immediately. It wasn't just lapping water they heard, it was the sound of oceanic waves. The two charged out toward the sound, and Thystian and Tocsin followed a little faster.

"A beach?! In this desert?! I'd think it was a mirage if it was hot enough!" Goldy exclaimed.

They skidded to a stop however upon seeing the beach ahead of them. They approached slowly, and could see that the water, reaching and retreating as it did, was solid black in color. Goldy got a disgusted look, while Deetria said, "Awww! It looks ugly!"

Thystian, having caught up, said, "That's just because of the lack of sunlight."

They looked at him as he said, "That water couldn't be any more pure. It's only black because there's no sunlight to bring out the blue in the water."

Goldy looked out at the water, and said, "It's like everything's in sepia or something... Oh well. YAY!"

He set his Spilievern Pouch on the ground, and charged out into the water. With cumbersome high steps, he hopped, before diving into the water and swimming around, splashing and cleaning the dust off of himself. Deetria nuzzled Tocsin, and said, "Water to play in! I wish you could play with me!"

Tocsin responded, "I wish I could too... But don't let that stop you."

Deetria, giggling, swooped out over the water and dove in with a splash. Thystian said to Tocsin, "Now THAT is what I need. A bath!"

He walked out toward the water. Tocsin settled on Goldy's Spilievern Pouch and sighed, watching as Thystian waded out into the water, going out so far he disappeared completely under it. Tocsin looked over at Goldy as he did a backstroke in the water. He looked over further and could see Deetria swooping into and out of the water, overjoyed to be able to play in water once more.

A strong breeze blew through, and Tocsin looked out at the big pink moon. After staring for a minute, he began to see Deetria's face in it again. He shuddered, that dreaded thought coming back into his head. "What... is going to happen..." he whispered.

He heard Goldy shriek, and looked out, seeing what looked like a green dorsal fin circling around Goldy. He shrieked louder when Thystian launched himself out of the water, arms raised and crashed onto Goldy, dragging him under. Deetria giggled loudly at the sight.

Tocsin sighed contentedly, watching.

Goldy suddenly rose, lifting Thystian over his head. "Now I get to throw YOU!" he said, before flinging Thystian some distance into the water.

Deetria, laughing hard, flopped onto her back in the water and wiggled. She lifted her head, seeing Tocsin watching, and flew over to him quickly. She nuzzled him, still dripping with the colorless water. She noticed that he didn't react much, and slowed down a bit. "...Tocsin?" she said.

"I'm here Deetria," Tocsin replied quietly.

"You sound... sad, Tocsin," she said.

"Hmm, maybe. Or maybe I'm just tired," Tocsin replied, disguising the dread that had begun to grow.

"Hee, yeah, you're probably just tired. And hungry! Thystian! I want food!" Deetria squealed.

Thystian, who was behind Goldy, an arm around Goldy's neck, and giving him a noogie with his free fist, looked out at Deetria, then at Goldy and said, "You think you have food for the group in that pouch?"

Goldy, clutching Thystian's arm still, replied, "Depends on what Adelline put in there..."

He yelled when Thystian hefted him and flung him onto the shore. Thystian laughed at him, then headed to the shore himself.

Goldy landed with a wet thud on the shore, got up, and brushed himself off, before walking over to the pouch. Tocsin rose into the air, and they watched as Goldy started rifling through the bag as it rested on the ground. Thystian approached as well. Goldy reached deeper, then proceeded to fall halfway into the pouch. Deetria squealed in surprise. Goldy's legs kicked, before he slipped in completely. They all fell silent, and looked at each other, before Goldy's hand thrust out of the bag, clutching a jar of honey. Thystian took it, and Deetria squealed in delight, bouncing. Goldy's hand thrust up again, this time holding a plastic container filled with sugar. Tocsin nodded slowly, approvingly. Thystian took it. Goldy climbed out of the bag, and pulled hard on something inside. Suddenly a humongous drumstick, still freshly cooked, popped out and Goldy staggered back, holding it.

Everyone stared, before Thystian stated with a chuckle, "Goldy, you might want to consider that a sign that Adelline's after your heart."

Goldy grinned, and sat to chow down on the huge meaty club. Thystian unscrewed the cap off the jar of honey, and set the jar on the ground. Deetria plunged her head in to consume the honey. Thystian popped the cap off the container of sugar, and set it down next to Deetria's honey jar. Tocsin moved down and began to vacuum up the sugar. Thystian sat, facing the shore, and fell silent.

Tocsin noticed this as he was eating, and stopped. "Thystian, do you EVER eat?" he asked.

"No," Thystian replied simply.

"...What, are you some kind of plant that doesn't need physical sustenance?" Tocsin remarked with an eye narrowed.

Thystian looked at Tocsin and said, "I eat when I need to, and not when I don't. I get tired, but I don't get hungry. My race is different from 'traditional' races. Don't worry about it, alright?"

Tocsin slowly nodded, and resumed eating. He watched as Deetria would pull her head free occasionally to breathe, before plunging it in again to keep going. This time she looked intent on consuming the entire jar of honey. Tocsin was amused by this.

~~07~~

Everyone sat around Thystian, their stomachs full. Thystian packed away the trash into Goldy's Spilievern Pouch and handed it to him. Goldy belched, and Deetria groaned in disgust. "Sorry. Excuse me," Goldy replied, and rolled onto his side.

"We going to rest here Thystian?" Tocsin asked.

Thystian got up, and they looked at him. "No," he said, "This is not the best place to rest. We may be at a beach, but those huge duststorms can get us here too. We need shelter for that, and the best place would be a secure area in the Howling Ravines. Do you all feel the strength to continue on?"

Goldy sat up and nodded. He said, "After that food, I do, yeah."

Tocsin and Deetria rose up, and Deetria replied, "Me too! I feel refreshed! Maybe we were all more hungry than tired."

"I'M tired, but I'm not stopping yet. Let's head east along this beach. We're much more likely to run into a sentient being who may know the way to the ravines," Thystian replied.

The group got to moving, as Goldy asked, "This planet has people living on it?"

"The Indestrites," Thystian replied, "They're a race of humanoids, almost identical to humans in appearance but for a metallic grey sheen to their skin, and the fact they grow very slowly, live for eons, and are indestructible like everything else from the planet."

"...They aren't evil, are they?" Goldy asked, the group walking along the shore.

"No. The race is as neutral-minded as everything else here. Some have left the planet to explore other worlds, free of fear from harm, but they do not take sides in any conflicts. It's because of some kind of ancient pact they made with the lords of this Galaxy we think," Thystian explained.

"Oh good," Goldy replied.

Deetria flew orbits around Tocsin, who flew calmly, and sighed again. Deetria nuzzled him, and looked at him. He nuzzled her back, and she squealed happily, before flying about. She swooped to the water and dove in again, before popping out and splashing. She kept up with the group as they headed down the beach though.

More time had passed, and Goldy asked, "So Thystian, this is the last element you need for your faction?"

"Yes, it is," Thystian replied.

"What will we do when you get it?" Goldy asked.

"Well, the Mega SPGXA Mothership is still on planet Shiko, Deetria's homeworld, so after we get those Petrified Poppy, we'll get to the Waypoint I intended us to start at, and warp to that planet. From there... ..." he trailed off.

Tocsin and Goldy fell silent too, and all three of them looked out at Deetria as she splashed about happily, innocently, carefree in the water.

More time had passed as the group moved onward, and Deetria had since moved to float over Tocsin, her tail wrapped around his.

"I spy with my little eye, something SHORT and grey! Hee hee," she said.

They looked ahead on the beach, and could see a figure standing there, facing the water. They looked at each other, and Thystian said, "The chances are so slim that we actually would find someone I can't believe it."

They headed toward the figure. As they drew closer, they could see that the being appeared to be covered from head to toe in a draping, body-shrouding robe of light grey. "...Dang... It looks like the Dark Wanderer..." Goldy said.

"Stop making references to video games Goldy!" Tocsin complained.

Goldy shrugged, and they drew closer still. "Hey there!" Thystian shouted, as they got close.

The figure turned to look at them, the hood the figure wore cloaked its face completely, leaving nothing but a black hole. Goldy looked for evil glowing eyes within, but saw none. The figure turned to face the group as they approached it. The figure then reached up, making Goldy and Tocsin stop suddenly. Thystian and Deetria, however, didn't stop so harshly. They watched as the figure reached up, grey-skinned hands emerging from the over-sized sleeves to clutch the hood's brim, and pull it down.

Goldy's eyes widened at the sight. He saw that the face of the being was a beautiful woman's. She had extremely soft-looking skin, though it was metallic grey in color. Her eyes were green, while her hair was platinum in color, and appeared long enough to disappear into the back of the robe. Thystian, stopping, exclaimed, "Dyna! What are the CHANCES?!"

Deetria seemed to recognize her too, and squealed in delight, flying over to her. The Indestrite woman, whose name was apparently Dyna, held up a hand for Deetria to land on. "Dyna! Hi! Remember me?!" Deetria squealed excitedly.

The others approached, as Dyna replied with a soft voice, "Yes Deetria. I remember you. You have changed however."

Dyna gently stroked Deetria's chromatic head feather with a finger, and Deetria cooed. Dyna looked at Thystian, and said, "Thystian. It has been a while."

Thystian replied, "I never thought I'd run into you in this endless wilderness! I am really glad to see you... We're completely lost out here."

Dyna looked at Tocsin and Goldy, and said, "Manners, Thystian."

Thystian flinched, then replied, "My bad... Dyna, these are Tocsin, and Goldy. They're from Earth. Got here by accident, been traveling with Deetria and I our mission ever since. Goldy, Tocsin, this is Dyna, an Indestrite ambassador well known by many factions."

Deetria added, "We've been to... umm... one... two... four! No, five planets so far! It's been such a long adventure..."

Dyna said, "I see. Collecting elements for NeoSPGXA again Thystian?"

Thystian nodded. Dyna continued, "Then I assume you need the Petrified Poppy of Indes?"

Thystian replied, "You always know exactly what's correct Dyna. That is right. We need to get to the Howling Ravines, but when we teleported here from FroreAqueaous, something went wrong and we were dumped into the nowhere region..."

Dyna nodded. She gently released Deetria into the air, then turned to look up at the sky for a minute. Everyone held silent for this period. Dyna pointed up to a set of stars that seemed to form a distinct row in the sky. She said, "See that formation? That is the Harristat Formation. If you follow it, it will lead you directly to the ravines you seek."

Tocsin looked directly at the stars, and narrowed his eyes, focusing. Thystian gestured to Dyna while looking at the others and said, "See how easy it would have been if I'd friggen REMEMBERED THE STAR CHARTS?!"

Deetria sighed, and replied, "Stop beating yourself up over that Thystian. It's not the first time you've forgotten something important..."

Thystian sighed. Dyna faced him and said, "Remember Thystian, sometimes important things have occurred because of mistakes. You found that cluster of Red Ones and destroyed them because of your 'forgetfulness'."

"How did you know about that?" Tocsin asked, an eye narrowed.

Dyna looked at him and replied, "I have been able to feel their rage-inducing aura for a while now. But then it stopped. I knew then that someone had destroyed them. And then I encounter you all, and I know from there what has happened."

"Oh. Well that makes sense," Goldy responded.

"Thanks Dyna. Thanks a lot. See you next time, yeah?" Thystian replied.

"Perhaps," Dyna replied.

Thystian, Tocsin and Deetria moved to head in the direction of the star formation, Tocsin leading, but they stopped when they heard Goldy speak, "Dyna..."

She looked at him, and he continued, "This planet is barren enough to drive the best of explorers insane... How do you people tolerate it?"

Dyna, her face soft, expressionless, replied, "We take our time."

Goldy was silent. Dyna put her hood back up, and faced the sea again. Goldy moved to follow the group, now in thought.

~~08~~

The wind was picking up again as the group moved along, being lead by Tocsin as he kept an eye on the star formation Dyna had pointed out. "Oh crap no! I JUST cleaned myself off!" Goldy suddenly shouted.

Everyone could see in the distance a huge, vicious tornado of dust roaring toward them. "RUN AWAY!!!" Goldy screamed. He turned to flee as the tornado sped along at high speed right for them.

Deetria, also fleeing, squealed in fear. Tocsin narrowed his eyes, worried about losing sight of the star formation. The group ran, but the tornado quickly drew near. Goldy screamed as the powerful pulling air got hold of him and pulled him into the spinning cloud of dust. Deetria, unable to resist the pull, squealed in fear as she fell in. Tocsin, distracted by Deetria, was pulled in as well, and Thystian sighed as he was pulled in last.

The group swirled around and around, and slowly rose up the tornado. "I'm gonna loose that glorious lunch! Oh Adelline I'm sorry!" Goldy shouted.

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Tocsin yelled, not too keen on having Goldy's meaty vomit all over him.

Deetria just squealed, while Thystian held in a cross-legged sitting position, arms crossed as well.

Shortly, the group reached the top of this massive dust devil, and were launched all at once straight up into the sky. Tocsin and Deetria flew up some distance, before stopping themselves midair. They watched as Thystian, still in his sitting pose, and Goldy, flailing, flew past them up into the sky. After a moment, the two fell back past the little ones, and Tocsin and Deetria watched them go by. They looked at each other.

Thystian readied himself to land, while Goldy used his wings to slow his fall. Thystian, landing first, hit the ground hard enough to release a dusty shockwave out around him. He stood straight, and looked up, seeing Goldy gently land on the ground and grin at him. Tocsin and Deetria returned to the group. "...Wow. That was random," Goldy remarked.

Tocsin gazed at the sky, searching. The others waited. Tocsin searched and searched, then recognized the formation. He headed toward them quickly now, and the others eagerly followed.

The wind moaned low, and the group followed Tocsin as he lead them onward. Soon however, he stopped upon hearing an eerie howl. "...Was that the wind?" he asked.

"...Yes... yes it was!" Thystian exclaimed. He charged toward the noise, and said as he did, "If you thought the winds were bad out here, wait until we get in there! We're going to have some serious hiking ahead of us. You little dragons are fortunate you can fly everywhere."

Deetria giggled, and Tocsin was quiet, looking at her.

"ONWARD!" Goldy shouted, and the group headed toward the source of the noise: the Howling Ravines, their final destination on Thystian's mission.

END

Dragon Tails © Tim Dawson

Wenonah Galaxy © Adrian Smith


	13. 13: Razor Winds

Roseus Elementeus

Chapter Thirteen – Razor Winds

~~00~~

Louder and louder the howling grew. The intensity of the winds, too, grew, as the group struggled against the forceful air. Tocsin and Deetria had taken to hiding behind Thystian, having a great deal of difficulty moving against the wind force.

"You weren't kidding about the wind, Thystian!" Goldy shouted over the howling, "Why is it blowing so hard?!"

Thystian, marching steadily onward, shouted, "It's believed that somewhere within the Ravines we're approaching is some kind of hole into the planet's surface, and it is constantly releasing the wind. We haven't been able to get any good studies of it yet because it's so hard to examine, WHEN we find it!"

"It sounds so scary!" Deetria said, staying close to Tocsin. The two of them were behind Thystian still, using him as a shield against the wind.

"Well, Deetria, I can assure you this time, it really IS just the wind!" Thystian responded.

As they pushed forward, cracks could be seen ahead in the ground. At first they were small, but soon the group could see that the cracks grew in size until the land itself looked to be extensively webbed with huge gullies and ravines spreading abroad in every direction as far as the eye could see. "I thought you said the land was indestructible, Thystian!" Goldy shouted.

"I DID say that, but I ALSO said that things from Indes can be harmed by OTHER things from Indes. This wind and dust action have deeply scratched the ground, to the point that some of these gullies are fifty feet deep! Needless to say, we can't fly over them to look for our target!" Thystian yelled.

"Naturally!" Goldy responded with an annoyed tone.

"The wind won't be so bad once we actually go down into one of those ravines! There! There's our entrance!" Thystian shouted.

He pointed at a jagged ravine that sloped to the surface at its end, allowing for entry down into it. It had numerous small rocks laying just within, between the two walls of the narrow passage. Thystian's group steadily approached the slope down into the ravine, and headed down it. Tocsin and Deetria were nearly blown away by a sideways gust of wind, and yelped, before swooping below the wall. The group moved in deeper.

The howling echoed above them, though now the wind was no longer a constant gale pushing against the group. As they stepped down the slope, the grey, rough walls gradually grew taller around them. The ground of the slope itself was covered in small stones, forming a gravel-like layer, and Goldy noticed he was having a bit of difficulty keeping his traction.

A gust of wind howled loudly past the group, and Deetria shivered just a little. Tocsin kept close to her, and said, "There's nothing there Deetria... It's ok."

"I know, Tocsin... I'm trying to be brave," Deetria responded quietly.

The group moved gradually deeper into the ravine, the ground was very uneven. Thystian climbed over a large rock that was half emerged from a wall at the floor. Goldy, who kept behind Thystian, climbed over too, stopping for a moment to warily get his footing back in the sloped descent.

Soon, the howling sounded high above them, and it was growing harder to see within the ravine, the star-speckled sky above peeking down at them through the gap between the two walls. "Whoa... WHOA!!" Goldy shouted.

Thystian stopped, looking back, in time to see Goldy slip on some very loose gravel and crash into him. Deetria squealed, as she and Tocsin watched Thystian and Goldy crash down the slope deeper into the ravine. "Ohh... He's such a klutz!" Deetria groaned.

The two followed quickly after. At the bottom of the slope, it was dark and poorly lit, so Tocsin and Deetria enhanced their glows. The wind howled above, and Thystian lay on his front, Goldy sitting on him. Thystian muttered, "Ugh... This is NOT a good start to exploring this place..."

The gully jaggedly reached onward and disappeared into the darkness ahead. It was very narrow. Just barely enough room for one person at a time, much less two side-by-side. "Sorry..." Goldy said, dejectedly.

"It's alright... I anticipate we'll be crashing all over the place before we get out of here," Thystian replied.

They could hear the sounds of rocks crackling above, and a small rock and some dust dropped to the ground between them. A loud howl passed through, Goldy looking up at the sound. "Not to mention we'll probably be deaf," he noted.

Thystian turned and headed forward through the narrow ravine. Goldy followed, while Tocsin and Deetria stayed just above the two. Tocsin gazed up at the slit of starry night sky that could be seen. He kept quiet.

A large rock sat in the middle of the ravine, forcing Thystian and Goldy to climb over it. Passing this, they slipped carefully along, their backs against a wall, through a cluster of sharp, spiky rocks protruding from a corner of the floor. They heard a clunk, and Thystian grumbled, having hit his head on a stretch of rock that spanned between the two walls. He ducked under it to move on. Goldy hunched slightly to get under it, while Tocsin and Deetria flew over it.

The gully path continued to stretch on in a very jagged manner, left and right in sometimes smooth, sometimes sharp curves. It sloped up slightly, then back down, though the group walked instead on a thick pile of gravel that apparently filled a ditch in the ravine. Goldy noticed a few more small rocks fall from the walls above, along with dust. The howling of the wind remained unending, and the sounds of rocks crackling and rolling added to the nerve-wracking atmosphere.

Suddenly an intense gust of wind blew through, past the group, generating a howling sound so loud, everyone was forced to stop. Goldy held his hands to his head where his ears were, and Thystian just hunched. Deetria squealed, burying her head in Tocsin's wings, and he winced at the horrible noise.

The sound faded when the wind calmed. The howling above remained intense however. Everyone remained standing, and Goldy remarked, "Yep... I wish I had ear plugs right about now."

"This place just gives me one more good reason to hate Indes..." Deetria grumbled.

The group pressed onward, down a slope, and around a turn.

~~01~~

The wind howled unendingly. The group's progress was precarious at best. Ahead, a series of large rocks obstructed their path slightly. Some were laying on the ground, others were wedged between the two walls. Thystian climbed onto a rock, and crawled between it and another that was stuck slightly above them. Goldy followed behind, while Tocsin and Deetria simply flew to follow, not having too much trouble.

The wind howled through the passage. Thystian climbed carefully, and stopped on another rock, with yet another right in front of it. With a yelp, Thystian slipped on the large rock, and took a nose-dive between the two, becoming wedged upside down between them. His limbs flailing, he yelled and attempted to get himself free. The wind howled past the group. Tocsin and Deetria flew circles over Thystian, while Goldy, seeing Thystian stuck there, yelped.

Grabbing Thystian's legs, Goldy pulled, and slowly freed Thystian from between the two rocks. On the previous rock, Goldy staggered back and bumped his head on a wedged rock above him, while Thystian lay in the space between the two rocks. He staggered up to keep climbing, when another powerful gust of wind roared past, stopping them all again. This gust, however, carried a surge of dust, blasting the group. Goldy coughed and hacked, and his eyes watered from the dust that covered them. He blinked, and sat for a moment to try and clear his eyes. Deetria stayed close to Tocsin, and the two were silent for now. Tocsin gazed at Deetria, and she looked at him. Catching the gaze, Deetria nuzzled Tocsin, and laid her head on his for a moment. Tocsin closed his eyes.

The wind howled above loudly, and they heard the crackling of moving rocks. More small rocks fell amongst the group, carrying a tail of dust. Goldy climbed to his feet, and the group slipped under another wedged rock, getting to more stable ground.

Ahead, a huge rock was firmly wedged between the two rocks, with several more on top of it. Thystian stopped for a moment, and the others looked around him at this blockade. Thystian looked at the ground, and saw a small crawl space beneath the monster boulder. Thystian pointed, they nodded, he got down and began to crawl. So flat against the ground he dragged his torso by his arms, Thystian slipped under the rock. Small rocks bounced down from the large pile above.

Tocsin and Deetria followed, simply flying beneath the rock. The group had become silent for this hiking expedition due to the speech-blotting wind of this region.

Goldy stopped, and grimaced at the sight of the crawl space. The wind howled about around him. He looked at his stomach. He was not exactly lean and flexible like Thystian. Goldy sighed, laid down, and began to crawl, flattening his wings against his back as much as he could. Nevertheless, Goldy, at about mid way past the stone beneath it, became stuck. He yelped, and pulled hard with his arms, pushing hard with his feet, to force his way through.

On the other side, Thystian, Tocsin and Deetria waited. The path ahead curved sharply to the right and sloped down some. A new sound had joined the wind and crackling of rocks. It echoed toward the group from the ravine's path ahead, and sounded like a deep, sporadic yet patterned droning sound. At first it was difficult to distinguish from the rest of the ambient noise. Tocsin and Deetria looked at each other in puzzlement.

Thystian looked at the crawl space, and could see Goldy's flailing arms beneath. A gust of wind howled, and small rocks bounced down the pile above the giant stone. "I'm... urk... STUCK!" Goldy exclaimed, slightly muffled, beneath the stone.

Thystian crouched down and reached for Goldy's hands. "Stop flailing and let me grab you!" Thystian yelled.

Goldy forced a hand forward and grabbed Thystian's arm. Clutching Goldy's arm, Thystian pulled hard, and with a pop, Goldy was freed. Thystian staggered back, but remained standing, and Goldy climbed to his feet. He brushed himself off, and checked his Spilievern Pouch to make sure it was still there. "How much you got left in there anyway?" Thystian asked.

"Not much... a couple more of those Denatro Pepper Sandwiches, the rest of the Energy Seeds, and trash," Goldy replied.

Thystian simply nodded, and, noticing the periodic droning noise ahead in the ravine, turned to head that way.

The group stepped carefully down the slope ahead. It shortly flattened out, turning left slightly. They moved forward through this, and stopped. Ahead the ravine forked sharply. However, the left path was jammed completely with a huge pile of rocks that stretched up to the top of the ravine. The wind howled through, and the crackling of rocks could be heard. Small rocks bounced down the pile in the left path, while dust blew through, lightly. Amidst this however, the droning noise had become more audible. "You know what that sounds like to me?" Goldy said.

They looked at him, as he finished, "That sounds like snoring."

Everyone was silent, looking at each other. They looked down the right path, which had a few rocks wedged mid way up the ravine. They moved forward, squeezing through the narrow opening into the right path.

The howling grew louder as the group moved, and Thystian suddenly stopped. He was bumped by Goldy, and violently slammed his hands against the two walls to keep from moving. Tocsin, Deetria and Goldy peered around Thystian, and could see why. The ravine kept going, narrow as it was, but two thirds of the right side of the ravine suddenly dropped sharply into darkness below. There was a very narrow ledge on the left wall at the height of the ground they currently stood on, that reached onward in the ravine. The howling was loud here. Deetria was intimidated by the long, stretching, black hole in the ravine, even though she wasn't in any danger from it. She looked at Thystian and said, "What are we gonna do?"

"Carefully... keep going..." Thystian said, a stern tone to his voice. He pressed his front against the left wall, and began to shimmy along the narrow ledge in the ravine. Goldy followed suit, a lot more nervous. He kept his tail close to his body, and kept his wings flat, trying to keep all his balance to his front, as he also shimmied along next to Thystian, the two looking forward.

The ravine curved gradually, the snoring sound grew louder. The wind howled noisily in the section of ravine with the long pit. As they moved, Goldy noticed a small rock fall from above down into the emptiness below. He did not hear the sound of it hitting the floor.

Thystian felt incredibly relieved when the pit ended as sharply as it began, and he shimmied on and stepped out into the solid ground. It curved down and to the right slightly, before suddenly turning left. Once Goldy had stepped off the ledge, the four continued on, approaching the snoring noise.

As soon as they made the turn, they could see the source of the noise ahead. There, laying in their path, completely blocking it, was some kind of animal, snoring peacefully. They stopped once they reached it, and looked. It was a grey-skinned, dust-covered walrus-like creature. It's tusks were at least three feet in length, and it seemed to rest on them, its head propped up. "Huh. A Dustarus. They're pretty common in this area. They come from the ocean, and go into the ravines to sleep for years at a time," Thystian stated.

"It's ugly... yet... somehow, at the same time, it's cute... Does that even make sense? So ugly its cute?" Deetria asked.

Thystian just chuckled, as he walked up to the beast, which was just about as big as he was. The group could not pass however, as they noticed that laying on top of the Dustarus was a pile of rocks that reached to the top of the ravines. Dust could be seen blowing by overhead, and small rocks bounced down the pile, even off the Dustarus' head. The wind howled noisily in this area, and the Dustarus snored.

"...It's blocking the path," Tocsin said, "We can't even climb over it because of that pile of rocks resting on it..."

Thystian laid a hand on the creature's face. It kept sleeping peacefully. The crackling of rocks echoed above the group. "We're gonna have to wake this thing up somehow..." Thystian said.

"But how?" Goldy asked.

Thystian shook the creature, or at least tried to. It had no effect as it remained asleep.

"...I guess by force, since it obviously wouldn't be disturbed by sounds, considering the noise it's sleeping through," Thystian replied.

"I'm not so sure about that. That howling wind is producing something of a white noise if you ask me. I bet if we found a secure place in here, we could sleep too," Tocsin said.

"Yeah..." Deetria replied, and yawned, "Just thinking about it makes me sleepy."

She rested her head on Tocsin's and closed her eyes. Tocsin held still, while they watched Thystian stand, thinking.

"Well, considering it can't be hurt, I guess we could try striking it," Thystian said.

The group watched, Deetria opening her eyes to do so, as Thystian reeled back, and smashed his fist into the face of the creature. Not only did it not budge, but it kept sleeping, snoring peacefully, if loudly.

"Let me try something," Goldy said.

He and Thystian squeezed past each other, and Goldy inhaled, before roaring loudly at the creature. It remained asleep, snoring calmly. "Wow, I didn't know you could do that!" Thystian exclaimed.

Goldy choked slightly and raspily replied, "I don't normally do it cause it blows out my throat... Ack..."

"Let me try something!" Deetria said.

Her chromatic feather lit up, standing straight, and she beamed concentrated light into the closed eyes of the creature. Uneffected, the Dustarus remained snoring. Deetria sighed. The wind howled above, and more dust sprinkled down on the group.

Tocsin, without a word, inhaled, and blazed plasma flames on the creature. This failed to have any effect, though Goldy yelped and pulled back from the blast. Tocsin sighed.

"Just what I'd expect from a creature from Indes. It's completely unharmable. If you're into senseless violence, Indes is the best place to go, because you can beat the crap out of anything and there won't be any repercussions," Thystian said.

"That's mean..." Deetria replied. The others just chuckled.

They stood around and listened to the noisy ambience. The wind kept howling, crackling rocks could be heard, and the Dustarus kept snoring.

Goldy thought deeply, and spoke up, "We could try singing to it! That worked in Link's Awakening."

Tocsin narrowed his eyes in annoyance, while Deetria was confused. Thystian replied, "You aren't getting me to sing..."

"I don't think that'll work here, Goldy..." Tocsin said.

Goldy shrugged, and the group remained where they were, thinking. After several minutes, they were stumped, but their brainstorm was disturbed by a low growling sound. They looked up and around frantically, and noticed that the strange growling seemed to be coming from the Dustarus. "Is it waking up?! Is it mad?!" Deetria squealed, afraid.

They looked at the creature, which kept lying there, snoring peacefully. They fell silent, as the creature snored, and more faint growling echoed from it. Goldy leaned in a little, listening, and blinked. "...I think that's its stomach growling..."

"Well, if I slept for years in a dusty ravine, I'd get pretty hungry too," Tocsin said.

"What do animals on Indes eat anyway, Thystian?" Deetria asked.

Thystian replied, "Depends on the animal. Dustaruses though will eat just about anything, though they have a preference for the fish of the oceans. They CAN eat them, considering it's another Indes creature."

"Anything, huh?" Goldy said, with a mean grin.

"...What are you thinking, Goldy..?" Tocsin asked.

Goldy clutched his Spilievern Pouch and looked through it. After a few seconds, he pulled out a Denatro Pepper Sandwich. He grinned at the group, and Thystian crossed his arms, chuckling. "Oh that's so mean..." Deetria said, though she sounded amused too.

Goldy held the sandwich out to the Dustarus' face, and waved it about slowly, close to the creature's nose. After a moment, its nose began to wiggle slightly, and the creature began to sniff. The group kept silent as the Dustarus sniffed and sniffed, and its head began to slowly reach forward toward the sandwich, eyes still closed, as if still asleep. "Thaaaat's right... Eat the sandwich..." Goldy whispered.

He yelped when the creature suddenly opened its big mouth and clamped down on the sandwich, partially taking a section of Goldy's arm with it. Goldy yanked hard, and pulled his hand free. He held it, and checked. It was unharmed.

The group watched as the beast slowly chewed the sandwich. The wind continued to howl during this, as the creature, with soft grunts chewed some more, before swallowing. They looked at each other, and back at the beast as it continued to snore softly.

After a second however, the creature twitched once. Then twitched twice. It then started to shake, its eyes bugged open, and it blared a wild howl. It launched up, hard, casting off all of the rocks that were lying on it, clean out of the ravine, disappearing into the darkness above. Everyone couldn't help but crack up with hysterical laughter, and began to move on through the ravine, progressing further onward.

~~02~~

The wind howled endlessly. Rocks crackling echoed all around them in the massive webbing of ravines. The group had temporarily stopped when a large rock, one that was resting on the Dustarus they had bypassed, crashed down into the ravine directly ahead of them. Dust and smaller rocks followed for a moment. Behind it, another rock crashed down, but its slightly larger size resulted in it being wedged between the walls.

Once it seemed safe, Thystian approached the rock, and climbed onto it. Carefully sitting on the rock, he slipped off onto the ground behind it, which sloped slightly down. Thystian took a couple of steps as Goldy climbed on. He staggered however, and slipped off the rock, bumping into Thystian. Thystian staggered forward and bashed his head against the higher rock. He staggered back, into Goldy, who caught him.

Tocsin and Deetria swooped up, around the two and under the rock. Deetria peeked back at them and teased, "Hee hee... We're having the time of our lives just flying through here, while you two are bumping all over the place!"

"Don't be taunting, Deetria. It's not nice," Thystian replied with an annoyed tone.

Deetria just giggled, and followed Tocsin. Ducking, Thystian and Goldy went under the low bridge, and stepped onward. The path had straightened out slightly, with another wedged rock to step under.

Once they passed this however, they stepped carefully out into a wider area. This section looked like a large hole punched into the ground, with a circular wall, though at least five other passages, not including the one they had just entered, branched off in random directions. Tocsin and Deetria flew into the center of this big pit, and looked around.

The wind howled, and the crackling of rocks echoed all around, constantly, as Thystian and Goldy stepped slowly forward. Goldy stopped, looking up at the visible sky above, while Thystian walked into the center of the area. He yelled out suddenly, and the group looked.

With a "splorch", Thystian had stepped into some kind of fluidic ground. Extremely thick, it was much like quicksand, and Thystian sank up to his knees immediately. "Thystian!" Deetria squealed in panic.

"Crap! Is that quicksand?!" Goldy exclaimed.

Having sunk to his hips already, an annoyed tone filled his voice as he replied, "Try Hydrosoil... ...It's all I can do not to break into swearing right now..."

Thystian sank at a steady pace initially, but began to slow. His body displaced the sludge a bit out of the hole he was trapped in. He looked around. Deetria, panicking, flew circles around Thystian squealing, "What do we do?! What do we do?!"

Goldy quickly started looking around for something to toss Thystian to try and pull him out. Tocsin could do nothing but watch silently, worried. The wind howled more around them. Everyone held still for a moment when they heard a strange noise amidst the ambience. The wind howled, rocks were heard crackling, the hydrosoil pit bubbled a couple times, but there was another sound. A distinct popping noise, echoing from somewhere. "...Was that popcorn?" Goldy asked.

"That was the sound of the Petrified Poppy... We're already near... For now... GET ME OUTTA HERE!!" Thystian yelled, now up to his chest in the sludge, though his sinking had slowed dramatically by now.

"I'm looking!" Goldy shouted, looking around.

As he searched, Goldy turned around, his back to Thystian's. His tail reached out toward Thystian, who looked at it. Deetria and Tocsin noticed as well. As Goldy kept searching, he felt Thystian grab his tail, and yelped, staggering to avoid falling in. He looked back and shouted, "Hey! What are you doing?!"

"I'm using THIS!" Thystian shouted, clutching Goldy's tail.

Realizing this might work, Goldy looked forward, reached out, grunted and strained, pulling himself forward. Thystian held tight, and slowly began to emerge from the sludge. Deetria squealed, "Pull Goldy! Pull!"

"Pretend you're in a strongman contest and you're pulling a semi!" Tocsin added.

"I don't weigh THAT much!" Thystian exclaimed.

This did encourage Goldy however. With intense grunts and groans, he pulled hard. With icky, sludgy noises, Thystian was pulled out, and with a sudden, disgusting pop, Thystian flew free from the hydrosoil. He flew hard however, and, still clutching Goldy's tail, the two slammed into a wall, and flopped down, Goldy squished under Thystian. Thystian lay on his back on Goldy, Goldy on his front, and he groaned. A rock plummeted and smacked Thystian in the face, bouncing off to the ground. Thystian sighed.

Deetria floated down toward the sludge, looking at it closely. It was just a slightly lighter shade of grey than the surrounding ground, and it slowly oozed back to normal, the deathtrap camouflaged well within the center of this area. Deetria felt Tocsin wrap his tail around hers, and squeaked when she was towed away from the sludge. She looked at Tocsin, who said softly, "Don't get too close... You might get stuck."

Deetria cooed at Tocsin, and nuzzled him. He sighed.

Thystian stood up, and helped Goldy up. "Thanks a lot," he said.

Goldy nodded, smiling, and replied, "That's what teammates are for."

Thystian nodded, and brushed the sludge off his suit, sighing again. They all stopped when, during a particular howl of wind, the popping noises could be heard. "Ah yeah! We're close already! That's awesome!" Goldy shouted.

"That it is... There's just one problem... Which of these paths is the right one?" Tocsin asked, looking around at the five paths that spread out around them.

They stayed silent, listening to the popping sounds amidst the howling wind and crackling rocks. Thystian said, "Set an ear next to each passage. If the popping sounds the loudest from it, we'll take that path."

Everyone nodded, and drew near to a path. Goldy, being sure to stay away from the hydrosoil pit, stepped up to one passage, and listened. Howling winds, crackling rocks, and strange scuttling sounds like that of many small, point-tipped feet were heard. Goldy carefully moved away from this passage.

Deetria drifted up to a passage, and listened intently. Howling winds, crackling rocks, and a very faint popping sound were heard. Maybe that wasn't it. The popping was too faint, she felt.

Tocsin floated up to a passage, and listened deeply. Howling winds, crackling rocks, and the deep droning snore of what may have been another Dustarus were heard. Tocsin moved away from this passage.

Thystian walked up to a passage and focused. Howling winds, crackling rocks, and suddenly a heavy gale caused an intense howling blast from the ravine. Thystian fell back, his suit's sound systems knocked offline by the sudden noise. He grumbled, and worked to get them going again. Goldy, winced and held his hands to his head in pain, while Tocsin and Deetria shivered, wincing. "I'm glad it doesn't do that a lot!" Deetria exclaimed.

With the wind blew in more dust, blanketing the floor and completely cloaking the hydrosoil pit. Goldy coughed again, and shook himself to clear the dust off. He stepped over to the last passage and listened. Howling winds, crackling rocks, and the distinct popping sound they heard before, much louder than in Deetria's path. "Guys? I think I hear them here," Goldy said.

Tocsin and Deetria drifted over, and they looked at Thystian, who held up his index finger, signaling to wait. They patiently remained there, as Thystian finally got his sound system going. "Ok, what?" Thystian asked.

"I think I hear them in this passage!" Goldy stated.

Thystian stepped over, avoiding the hydrosoil, and the four listened intently. The winds howled strongly, rocks crackled everywhere, and the popping sound echoed from the ravine. Everyone looked at each other, and nodded. "I agree. Let's take this path," Thystian replied.

Thystian headed down the path, followed by the others. The path sloped sharply downward, curving gradually to the right as the group moved carefully over the gravel-covered ground. Not long in however, they noticed that their path was impeded a bit. Criss-crossing the narrow ravine were large, grey roots, that passed out of one wall and onto the other, leaving a tangled path amidst them. "...It's the Rooty Grotto all over again," Goldy remarked.

Deetria giggled, and flew into the root-filled passage. Tocsin followed quickly, the two swooping up and down to pass the roots. Thystian and Goldy plunged themselves into the mess, and struggled to climb through. "This wasn't fun the first time around!" Goldy complained.

With a yell, Thystian slipped amongst the roots, getting tangled in them. He grumbled and worked to free himself, struggling through the mess, and was passed by Goldy. This surprised him, considering Goldy's greater roundness. Thystian climbed forth.

Tocsin and Deetria exited the mess. Only a couple of roots and a rock were between the ravine walls in the path ahead of them, which turned sharply to the right. Amidst the howling wind and crackling rocks, the popping was growing louder. A small rock fell from above, dust following it, and Deetria watched it roll down the sloped path and around the corner.

Suddenly Goldy flew past the group and blatted against the wedged rock, before slowly falling off and plopping to the ground. He got up and brushed himself off. They looked back at Thystian, who had clearly just thrown Goldy. He scrambled out of the mess of roots, getting his foot caught on one. He flopped onto his front, grumbled angrily and kicked his caught foot until it came free. He climbed to his feet, and sighed.

"You're so tired, Thystian..." Deetria said sadly.

"Yes... But we're almost there. I can push it," Thystian responded.

Deetria sighed, and looked at Tocsin, who looked back. "You're tired too Deetria, I can tell," he said.

Deetria nodded slowly. "We're ALL tired. I hope we can take that break soon," Goldy replied.

Thystian nodded, stepping past the group in the narrow ravine. He stepped under the roots and rock, and turned at the corner, the others following right behind him.

~~03~~

The wind's howling was slightly weaker here, though the distinct popping sounds of the Petrified Poppy were directly ahead. Unfortunately, standing between the group and their target, was a massive pile of stones. The ravine looked collapsed in this section. "...I am going to throw a friggen FIT here..." Thystian grumbled.

Goldy moved past Thystian, the ravine just a little wider here, and listened. The popping was directly behind the pile. Goldy clutched a rock, and pulled hard. He staggered back, the rock coming free, and the pile crackled slightly, small rocks bouncing down it. Goldy tossed the rock aside, and looked at Thystian. "Good idea. You might want to keep back though. That pile could collapse on us..." Thystian said.

"I'm as eager to take a break as you. Let's just do this," Goldy said.

The two nodded, and grabbed one stone for each, and pulled, popping the stones free. The pile crackled more, dangerously, and slightly larger rocks bounced down, dust descending from above. Goldy grabbed a rock that, to him, looked critical, and yanked. With a rumble, the pile began to collapse toward them. Goldy dropped the rock, and the four fled back far enough to escape the miniature avalanche.

When the dust settled, the group looked. The pile had collapsed into a mess in front of them, though it continued to rise up the walls, forming something of a half-pipe, and way to climb out if necessary. They then immediately noticed a glow and colors ahead.

They slowly stepped forward, and stopped at the other side of the collapsed pile. Ahead of them, the ravine opened into a wide, round-walled section. The wind was weak here, the crackling of rocks still audible. Growing in the center of this area, was a large patch of green grass, and colorful flowers. Amidst them were a very large number of little, grey, bulb-ended flowers. They wiggled a little when a breeze blew through, and they emitted distinct popping noises. Floating about over and amidst this flowering patch were tiny insects that glowed with a golden light, looking more like tiny orbs of drifting and bobbing lights.

"Ohh! It's so beautiful!" Deetria squealed.

She immediately flew toward the patch, and Tocsin followed. Goldy smiled, stepping out into this open area, and Thystian followed. Deetria flitted about over the flowers, and stuck her face into one that was not a Petrified Poppy. She giggled, and gazed at one of the tiny glowing insects. She cooed. Tocsin drifted over, looking at the flowers and insects, and watched one pass in front of him. "What is that?" he asked.

"Hee hee. The bugs are Sparklits! They tend to hang around important flower patches," she said, watching one drift by.

The wind howled softly above the group, and a slight breeze through the passage made the Petrified Poppy pop. Deetria looked closely at one, giggling, then landed in the patch and sighed. Tocsin settled next to her, looking at her.

"Now that is the cutest sight... I'm keeping that," Thystian said.

He took a picture with his suit's helmet camera, and Deetria giggled. Goldy walked over and looked at the flowers. Thystian stepped up, and said, "Be careful handling them. The petrification effect on these flowers have granted them explosive capabilities. One by itself is not bad, but if the whole patch went up, this ravine would be badly damaged and we'd probably not survive."

Deetria cooed, distracted by the prettiness of this patch. Goldy remarked, grinning, "They're like naturally-growing cherry bombs. Hey, maybe I should stash a couple and slip them into a couple of Bluey's experiments."

"Oh yeah, like Bluey actually needs HELP with making his experiments explode? Remember what happened in that lair of his that we found in the Slinky Tunnels?" Tocsin responded.

Goldy just snickered, and Deetria giggled at the name of the place.

Thystian knelt, and carefully plucked about a dozen of the dozens of Petrified Poppy flowers, and stored them in his inventory.

"And with that, my mission, is complete. I have all six Elements NeoSPGXA sent me out for," Thystian announced.

"Yay!" Deetria squealed.

"Great. At long last," Tocsin replied.

"WHOO-HOO!" Goldy exclaimed, a fist in the air.

They then fell silent, and Goldy said, "...Now what?"

"I need to transmit to the Mothership. Give me a few minutes," Thystian replied.

Goldy, Tocsin and Deetria nodded. Thystian stepped away, toward the rock pile, and held a hand up to the side of his helmet. "General Thystian, to Mega SPGXA Mothership. Do you read? Over," he said quietly.

Nothing but static came back on his line. He attempted again, but once more could not get out. He looked up at the pile, and said, "Goldy, I'm gonna have to try and climb up that pile to the top, or close, if I can. I can't get a signal down here in this ravine."

"Alright, but be careful... That pile looks very unstable since we messed with it," Goldy replied.

Thystian nodded, and began to climb, carefully, up the pile, checking each rock he got a grip on before putting his weight on it.

"Tocsin, you're so sweet," Deetria said.

Tocsin looked at her, and was quiet. She continued, "Now that we're finished, I want to take you home so you can meet my family and friends! I've missed them so much during this big trip... I don't know how I would have handled if you hadn't been there to support me. You even gave me powerful gifts! I want to thank you for that."

Tocsin nodded, responding, "It was my pleasure. I have to admit, at first I was a little apprehensive around you. I wasn't used to seeing a... pink 'me' flying around, and nuzzling me all the time. But it did not take long for me to fall for you. And now, with those changes, your beauty is more profound than ever."

Deetria cooed, blushed, and nuzzled Tocsin slowly and warmly. Over them floated a Sparklit, and it drifted down. It settled on Tocsin's nose ridge. Deetria giggled at the sight, and Tocsin blinked. He shook his head, and the insect lifted back into the air and resumed floating. Deetria giggled some more, and gazed at Tocsin. They exchanged the gaze for a minute, before Deetria's eyes closed in an extended yawn. Tocsin watched, feeling a warm feeling at the sight. Deetria shuffled a little closer, then snuggled against Tocsin, laying her head on his back. She whispered, "Nap time..."

Tocsin nodded, looking at her. He rested a couple of wings on Deetria's body, and laid his head on her back. The two shortly fell asleep.

"WAUGH!" Thystian yelled, slipping on a loose rock. With fast action he grabbed another rock and stopped his slippage. Goldy tensed every time Thystian slipped, then calmed when Thystian resumed his ascent. Soon, Thystian was nearing the peak of the pile, and the wind raced above him, howling tremendously. He found that the pile wasn't quite tall enough to reach the very edges of the ravine, but felt he was close enough. He sent out his transmission again, "This is General Thystian to Mega SPGXA Mothership. Do you copy? Over."

Silence, and static. He could barely hear the static over the howling winds. He switched off his external audio input to shut the noise up, and listened. He got nothing but static, and tried his transmission again, "General Thystian, attempting to contact Mega SPGXA Mothership. Please respond. Over."

More static ensued, but was broken suddenly by a stern, strong female voice, the transmission heavy with static, "ThySHHan, SHHstian wSHHead you. SHHHHu are bSHHking badSHH AttemSHH a recaliSHHion of SHHr transmiSHHon frequSHHy anSHHry agaSHH. OveSHH."

Thystian proceeded to do so, recalibrating his transmission frequency, and replied, "Thystian to Mega SPGXA Mothership. Come in. Over."

The female voice replied much more clearly now, "Thystian! It's good to hear from you again. We received word that you had passed through many planets in the past several days. Over."

Thystian responded, "Thanks, Savanna. I had a little trouble with Insectids on Mara 7 when we lost contact. However, I have succeeded in obtaining the six Elements on our target list for this system. Over."

Savanna acknowledged, "Excellent. Word also indicated you were with others. What is your status? Over."

Thystian replied, "Affirmative. I have three teammates with me. I will explain their presence and roles in the mission upon debriefing later. For now, we're still in the Howling Ravines. Over."

Savanna responded, "Confirmed. Do you have coordinates to the nearest Waypoint from your current position? Over."

Thystian replied, "Affirmative. We were delayed, but I am aware of where we are exactly now. I will be able to reach the Waypoint from here. Once we've used it to warp to Shiko, I will transmit our coordinates for pickup. Over."

Savanna stated, "Acknowledged. We await your return. Over."

Thystian nodded, mostly to himself, as he said, "Thank you. We're going to rest here for a few hours in this safe region before continuing. Everyone's morale is high, but their stamina is drained. Over."

Savanna responded, "Very well. Take care out there. Over."

Thystian finished, "Thank you. Over and out."

No sooner did the transmission end that Thystian was blasted by a heavy gust of wind. It launched him off the rock pile. He crashed into a cluster of rocks at the bottom of the ravine near the flower patch. Goldy rushed over to check on him. "Are you alright?! Did you get through?!" Goldy asked.

"Yes, I did. Ow... And yeah, I'm alright. Ish," Thystian replied.

Climbing out of the small rock pile, Thystian looked out at the two little sleeping dragons in the middle of the flower patch. Several Sparklits had lighted on them, the whole patch glowing. Goldy noticed too, and said, "Yeah, that's what I'm feeling about ready to do myself."

Thystian nodded as he said, "Yes. Now is the right time to take that break. Get some sleep. Sleep as long as you need Goldy. We're safe in this particular area."

Goldy nodded. He watched as Thystian stepped over, turned, and sat with his back against a wall. Thystian went still, and his suits lights cut off. Goldy walked over to near the edge of the flower patch, and laid down, curled up. He looked at Tocsin and Deetria, and emitted a sad sigh. "We're almost done, buddy... But... what are you gonna do?" he asked Tocsin quietly, knowing he was asleep.

Goldy closed his eyes after a few minutes, and soon was asleep. The wind howled softly here, a breeze passing through and making the Petrified Poppy flowers pop. Crackling of rocks could be heard within the ambience as well.

~~04~~

It was easily a day later in Indes time. The howling had not ceased of course, but was slightly stronger. The stars slowly traveled by in the sky overhead, more readily visible in this larger area. A breeze through the area disturbed the Petrified Poppy flowers. The crackling of rocks echoed in the distance, and a small rock hit Thystian's helmet, bouncing off to the ground, followed by small amounts of dust. Thystian's suit lights gradually lit up, and Thystian's yawn was heard. He held still for a moment, having not moved at all since he fell asleep, and the sound of his suit's body-cleaners could be heard hissing. After a minute, the sound stopped, and Thystian climbed up. He stretched, and sighed, feeling recharged and ready to go. He looked out at Goldy, whose leg was kicking slightly. "...That dragon has the worst dreams..." he muttered.

He looked at Tocsin and Deetria, who were cuddled together close. The Sparklits were now drifting about the flower patch pleasantly. Thystian held still, and took another picture of the two. He sighed sadly, as he muttered, "Tocsin... What are you gonna do... This is not gonna end well, I just know it..."

Thystian slowly stepped over, and knelt, looking at the two little sleeping dragons. "Tocsin. Deetria. It's time to get up," Thystian announced.

Tocsin twitched, and slowly lifted his head. He blinked, and looked around, then at Thystian. Deetria, without lifting her head, opened her eyes slowly, blinking and yawned big again. She lifted her head up, and squinted cutely at Thystian. "What a wonderful nap..." she whispered.

"That's good to hear," Thystian said, "We've slept for nine hours. That means we slept an entire day on this planet."

"Yeah, well, time is relative," Tocsin responded.

"Good point, Thystian stated.

Tocsin and Deetria rose into the air, and Deetria flitted about the flowers happily. Tocsin stretched his wings out, and watched Deetria for a moment. He turned to watch as Thystian approached the twitching Goldy. He moved closer to observe as Thystian poked Goldy with a foot. "Goldy..." Thystian said.

Goldy jumped awake with a scream, "GIANT SLINKY!! ...Oh. ...Where? ...Oh yeah..."

Thystian and Tocsin looked at each other, and slowly shook their heads. Deetria giggled.

"Are we ready to get outta here?" Thystian asked.

"I know I am. I'd like to get back to seeing COLOR again," Goldy said, sitting, rubbing his eyes.

He stood up, and the group looked at Thystian. He said, "I know how to get out from here. We were SUPPOSED to come in from that way if we had appeared at the Waypoint as I had originally planned. But oh well. Let's move."

He headed past the flower patch, and toward the narrowed ravine ahead. The others followed, Goldy with a spring to his step, feeling fully recharged after the nap. Deetria too was happy and energized, and flew about more excitedly. Tocsin kept a straight path through the pass.

The wind's howl grew strong again once they were in the narrow ravine, and the crackling of rocks echoed in the distance around them. The path became jagged, rugged and difficult again as they pressed onward, quiet and feeling strong. The path made a turn, and they could see a massive boulder resting mid way up, above them, wedged between the walls. They nervously passed under this.

The path sloped slightly upwards, curving to the left, and in their path were a pair of stone spikes, tilted sideways to cross each other. Thystian slipped through the gap between them by crawling along, and Goldy followed. Tocsin and Deetria simply flew over.

The sloping ground sharpened to be steep, and the ground was covered in gravel. Tocsin and Deetria flew up without a problem, and watched as Thystian slipped on the gravel, and crashed into Goldy as the two slid back to the bottom. They started climbing a little harder, only for Goldy to slip again, and in an attempt to save himself, snagged Thystian's ankle. This ended up pulling them back to the bottom again, where they bickered for a moment. Thystian then charged up the slope, and Goldy scrambled. Thystian reached the top, and turned, seeing Goldy slip again. Thystian grabbed his hand, and pulled him up the rest of the way. They continued on.

After a short forward walk, the ravine turned sharply. As soon as Thystian went around the turn, he stepped off a ledge and began to tumble uncontrollably down a sharp slope. Goldy, Tocsin and Deetria winced at the sight. Panic lit their eyes the next moment when Thystian landed in another hydrosoil pit. Goldy jumped off the ledge and charged down the slope to help Thystian. Tocsin and Deetria followed. Hopping over Thystian's head to get to the dry ground on the other side, Goldy offered his tail, which Thystian quickly grabbed. Goldy had less difficulty pulling Thystian out because he hadn't had time to sink in deeply enough. After a moment to clean his suit off, Thystian moved onward, the others following.

Ahead, an overhang formed in the ravine, leading the group into a narrow, pitch-black, but loudly howling cave. Thystian turned up his suit's brights to see, and the cave zigzagged a bit as they progressed. "OOF"! Goldy blurted with a thud. The others looked at him, seeing he had tripped on a rock. "...I knew I should have placed a bet on whether he'd trip on that rock," Thystian said with a chuckle.

Tocsin snickered, and Deetria giggled. Goldy sighed, getting up, and they progressed to the end of this small, empty cave. They came to a stop at the end. It seemed to end at a wall, but at the top of it was a large hole into which wind was blowing, producing the loud howling noise for this section. Thystian reached, but could not grab the edge. Tocsin and Deetria flew up and out. Thystian knelt, meshed his fingers together, palms up, and nodded to Goldy. Goldy nodded, and put a foot into Thystian's hands. Thystian thrusted upward and Goldy jumped, and grabbed the ledge. He scrambled out, into the ravine above, and reached down for Thystian. Grabbing Goldy's hand, Thystian jumped, and snagged the ledge of the wall in front, and, Goldy helping, climbed out of the hole and into the ravine.

They had progressed some distance, and made a turn in the ravine. They stopped immediately. The ravine ahead of them appeared to be thickly dotted with small red gem-like objects all along the floor and up the walls. There were several large rocks precariously placed mid way up one of the walls, with another rock half sunk in the ground below them. The wind howled, the crackling of rocks echoing around them. "...What are those... ...Did we step into some kind of ruby deposit?" Goldy asked

"...No..." Thystian said, quietly.

"Guys, those 'rubies' are moving..." Tocsin stated.

Along the wall, several of the gems had begun to scuttle using tiny spike-like legs to crawl fast. And they were speeding toward Thystian and Goldy. After a moment, all of the ruby-like gems were moving, swarming toward them. "They're more Red Ones aren't they?!" Goldy yelled.

Thystian and Deetria however remained calm, as Thystian spoke, "...They are. They're Red One Larva. Fortunately for us, they do NOT have the insanity-inducing aura of their greater kin. Nevertheless, they must be destroyed. Attack!"

Thystian drew his mallet, and Goldy, very relieved to see that his friends were not going to go mad again, readied to attack as the huge swarm of ruby insects charged at the group.

Thystian quickly began beating his mallet to the ground around him, crushing and easily killing large numbers of Red One Larva. He also swung his mallet like a golf club, smashing and launching clusters of the ruby bugs.

Tocsin swooped about, blazing powerful plasma flames at the small enemies. They perished easily from these attacks, and were unable to attack Tocsin, as he was always above them.

Deetria aided Tocsin, blasting beams of light at the Larva, shattering any that were hit.

Goldy blazed flames too, destroying them, and stepped forward as he did. He spat fireballs at some on the walls to blow them away. Others however had clustered down the wall and climbed up onto Goldy. He started screaming and flailing, and ran around, before bashing into a wall. A loud crackling sound from stones above were heard. Several stones fell and collapsed around Goldy. The stones crushed the Larva on him. His hand thrust out of the pile, and wiggled.

Thystian continued to smash and crush the swarming Larva, the entire swarm was quickly being eliminated by these many attacks. Tocsin continued to blaze flames, and Deetria stopped over the stone in the ground, sweeping beams of light at the Larva on the walls. Some of the Larva were now fleeing the group, heading up the wall toward the stones sticking out above. Thystian pressed forward, even stomping on some of the Larva to crush and destroy them. Goldy clambered out of the pile of rocks, and held his head. He flinched when Deetria hit him with a healing beam. He smiled at her, and she waved her tail back. Goldy checked to make sure his wings hadn't been mangled again, and fortunately, they were not.

Most of the swarm had been cleared away within a few minutes, and Thystian pressed forward. Soon, with most of them destroyed, the team stopped at the rock in the ground, looking around for more. "Easy peasy," Goldy remarked.

"Yeah, the Larva aren't much of a threat to well armed fighters like ourselves," Thystian replied.

More crackling was heard. This was more audible to the group, and they looked around for the source. Dust began to descend onto them in larger amounts. They looked up, and could see a number of the Red One Larva cutting at the ground supporting, barely, the rocks above them. With the last bit damaged, the rocks suddenly shuddered and collapsed down toward everyone.

With yells, Goldy and Thystian leapt out of the way. Deetria's eyes widened, looking straight up, a rock falling directly at her. Paralyzed with fear, she could do nothing more than emit a frightened squeal. Tocsin grunted hard, launching himself at Deetria. With a hard tackle, he rammed her clear of the rocks, and looked up, just in time to see the huge rock crash down directly onto him, smashing him incredibly hard on the rock below. The rock fell to the side as the other rocks landed hard all around, burying him beneath the indestructible rubble.

The wind howled above. Deetria's eyes widened greatly at the sight. Goldy coughed on the dust, while Thystian swung around. They both heard Deetria shriek, "TOOOCSIIINNN!!! NOOOO!!!!"

Goldy looked up immediately, and could not see Tocsin. The rubble remained unmoving. Deetria, squealing hysterically, started to blast at the rubble with her light beams, shrieking Tocsin's name continuously. Her eyes immediately became flooded with tears as she screamed.

With a growl, Thystian raised his mallet and started beating at the rubble, but it resisted perfectly. Goldy slowly stood up, and watched. He started to quiver slightly at the sight.

By now Deetria was bawling, blasting the rocks constantly, begging Tocsin to escape. Absolutely hysterical, she started running herself against the rocks, though this was useless. Thystian quickly stopped hitting the rocks, and was silent for a moment. He shouted, "Goldy, grab Deetria!"

Goldy rushed over, filled with horror at what may have happened to Tocsin, and snatched Deetria. She wiggled and squealed frantically, trying desperately to get to Tocsin. Goldy stepped back, struggling to keep hold of Deetria, as he noticed Thystian take out three Petrified Poppy flowers from his inventory.

Thystian pulled back, and threw the stone flowers at the rubble, hard. They released a blast of great force that threw dust about, and shattered the rubble completely. Deetria continued to struggle, though Goldy and Thystian shielded themselves from the blast and shockwave that flew out after.

Once the dust had cleared, they looked, and there, laying on the rock, was Tocsin. He lay limp, crushed greatly by the huge Indes rocks that had smashed down all around him. The rock he lay on was drenched in his white plasma, and was steaming. Deetria, with a terrible, tear-filled squeal, broke free of Goldy's grip and swooped to Tocsin. She screamed his name as she did, and clung to him. She immediately began to burn from his loose plasma, but she never noticed as she screamed and screamed. Tocsin was limp, unmoving, eyes closed.

Goldy's eyes widened at the sight. He moved quickly toward Tocsin, mouth hanging slack, quivering. He reached toward Tocsin. Thystian moved in quickly and scanned Tocsin.

Deetria's white feather tail began to glow brightly, and she unleased all of the holy energy reserves she had on Tocsin. He glowed brightly, but his damage would not clear. Deetria squealed horribly, pouring and pouring her healing energies, but it just wouldn't work. She rose up, her front side severely burned by Tocsin's plasma. She squealed horribly, still blasting him. "WHY WON'T IT WORK?!" she screamed.

"He's... he's... he's not dead is he?" Goldy asked, his voice shaking.

Thystian replied slowly, "...He's hanging by a thread... Those rocks nailed him directly... Smashed his torso completely... A critical hit... The damage is tremendous... Deetria, your powers aren't enough to help..."

Deetria squealed and squealed, tears flowing from her eyes. Goldy's eyes had begun to tear up too, and he quickly began to power up his Purity Rings. Coupling them with his fire breath, Goldy began to blast Tocsin too, and Deetria kept her own blasts going. Thystian kept a lock on Tocsin through the flames and light. Tocsin's health simply would not rise. Thystian slowly shook his head, and Goldy saw this. He stopped, teeth gritted, arms shaking. Deetria flopped onto Tocsin, crying hysterically, and begging him not to die.

"Goldy..." Thystian said slowly. He was looking at Goldy's Purity Rings. Goldy looked at Thystian, shaking, and Thystian continued, "The time of your sacrifice has arrived. Users of the Holy element can absorb artifacts and equipment of the same type to increase their power. Normally this only works once, but I get the feeling Deetria might be different..."

Goldy blinked. In his mind, he recalled the words of Shala'Soondeya, the PhilaPhila who had granted him those rings to begin with, back on Coll. "_Use them as much as you can. At some point, you may need to give them up. I'm sure you'll know when,_" her words echoed.

Eyes filled with tears, Goldy shouted, "Deetria! Take the Purity Rings! Save Tocsin!"

Deetria, burning more from Tocsin's plasma leak, looked at the rings. Goldy's words seemed to trigger the rings to activate. They suddenly expanded off of Goldy's wrists and Deetria rose into the air. The rings expanded to reach around her, and formed a pair of crossing energy rings around her body. Deetria's eyes widened, and the rings quickly receded into her body. She squealed loudly, glowing brightly, being healed of her damage. Her tail shone with glorious white, and two more feathers proceeded to form from her tail, the same kind of long white feathers as the first. These spread out slightly to form a small, three-feather fan.

Thystian's suit scans indicated to him that Deetria had now reached maximum Light and Holy element capacity. She was now a Master user of both elements. Deetria, looking down at Tocsin, eyes still flowing with tears, pointed her tail's feathers at him, and released a tremendous blast of holy energy. A column of light shone down around her, and him below her, and his whole form began to glow brightly. The spilled plasma all over the rock receded back into him, and his body's main shape restored to normal.

The light cleared, the column faded away, and Deetria settled on Tocsin, still crying, but slowly calming down now. Thystian ran a scan, and stood up straight. Goldy looked at him, and a smile formed on his face when Thystian slowly nodded. "TOCSIN!" Goldy shouted.

Tocsin groaned. Deetria, too, groaned, completely drained of her strength now. "I... freakin'... hate... Indes..." Tocsin groaned.

Goldy, overjoyed, now crying with happiness, scooped Tocsin and Deetria up. They both yelped as Goldy hugged them, dancing. "I was so worried you were gone for good!" Goldy yelled.

"Goldy... if I'd died, I'd have just gone back to my sphere..." Tocsin replied, head still foggy.

"Not according to my scans you wouldn't," Thystian replied.

Goldy stopped dancing and the three looked at Thystian. He, a waning nervousness to his voice, replied, "Your source orb is on Earth. There's no way you would have been able to return to it from another galaxy. If you had died, you would have been lost forever. I am glad this close call was at the END of our mission..."

Tocsin's eyes widened, and he looked down, with the same expression, realizing he had nearly died for good. Deetria clung to him with what little strength she had, and closed her eyes. She whispered to Goldy, "Thank you Goldy... You helped me save Tocsin..."

"You're welcome, Deetria..." Goldy whispered back.

Thystian looked up, seeing that the Red One Larva that had triggered the trap had escaped. He muttered, and looked down the Ravine path ahead. "We're very close now. Let's go," Thystian replied.

Goldy nodded, and kept carrying Tocsin and Deetria, as Thystian and Goldy moved onward down the ravine, more than ready to leave this place.

~~05~~

The wind's howling certainly had not ceased, nor did the crackling of rocks around them. Goldy followed carefully, carrying the exhausted little ones, who clung together. Thystian lead the group through the ravine, the path rugged and difficult still. The sounds of a Dustarus' snoring echoed some distance ahead.

Turning a path, Thystian saw a small batch of Red One Larva. Growling, he charged at them, mallet ready, and attacked. With smashes and swings, he destroyed all but one of them. It backed away slightly, and Thystian stepped on it. "Those were probably the ones that set that trap..." he replied, annoyed.

Goldy slowly nodded, and followed as Thystian headed on. The path swerved about, grey roots visibly protruding from the walls. Some lay flat against them, others reached across. Either way, they had to pass around and under them. Goldy kept hold of the two little ones, as they rested together.

Making a turn, the group found the source of the snoring, as the wind howled. It was another Dustarus, but it had its back to them. As it snored, Thystian simply walked up its ramp-like body, and hopped off its head. He looked back as Goldy did the same. Goldy stood on its head, and started tap-dancing. Thystian chuckled a little, while the big beast slept peacefully.

Goldy hopped off, and followed Thystian as they moved on. Within time, they noticed that the slope of the ravine was beginning to incline sharply upward toward an exit. It was again covered in gravel, but also reaching down it were a few long, grey roots. Thystian grabbed one as he began the climb, and used the grey plant part as a rope to keep his hold. He slipped twice, but never fell, as he used the root to keep where he was. Goldy used a different root to balance-walk up the slope. He nearly fell three times, but fluttered his wings each time to recover.

The howling winds grew stronger as they drew near to the exit. They could see emerging from the darkness ahead a huge Indestree. Obviously it was different from the one they had found before in the region of nowhere. It also appeared to be the source of the many roots that spread about. Soon, Thystian and Goldy emerged from the ravine, and could see that there was a Waypoint, grey in color, laying on the ground, at the base of the tall tree.

The wind was strong here, but the two headed toward the tree quickly, and stopped under it, near the Waypoint. Goldy looked around now. He could see that the area that supported the tree was surrounded completely by ravines, gorges and gullies all around them as far as the eye could see. The wind was very powerful around the area, but the tree itself provided some cover. The Howling Ravines moaned and wailed in the wind, the sounds all around them. Clouds of dust blew past in the distance, and the crackling of rocks echoed everywhere. Goldy could faintly hear the snoring of at least three Dustaruses.

Goldy sighed, sat down, and gently laid Tocsin and Deetria to the ground. Thystian stepped over and sat down as well, looking at them. "Deetria... Are you strong enough to fly?" Thystian asked.

Deetria slowly shook her head and replied, "I just... need a few more minutes, please."

"Take all the time you need, Deetria," Thystian replied.

Deetria and Tocsin lay there together, breathing quietly. Goldy leaned back against the tree, looking up at the starry sky above, and closed his eyes. He never wanted to experience another near death of a friend like that again.

Thystian sat still, motionless, staring out over the vast expanse of huge cracks in the ground. He checked his suit's inventory, and slowly nodded, as he reviewed all the items he had acquired. He noted that every one of them had helped the group somehow. The Marium Amethyst powered up the teleporter in the Insectid Science Facility. The Essence Rit'Seiwa provided them with a means to leave Silviprim Meadow and get to the next planet. The Darklight Crystal allowed Thystian to activate the sonic-powered teleport system and escape from the Pit of Voids. The Magnettosphere saved his own life when he fell overboard from the Noxiun Dredger Command Ship out over the Great White Expanse. The Refined ShimmerStone healed Goldy's destroyed wing in the Corrupted Refinery. And the Petrified Poppy allowed them to save Tocsin's life here in the Howling Ravines. He felt it was no coincidence that these artifacts helped them all, and felt very proud of both himself and his newly-found friends for a job well done.

Then his mind strayed into worry as he looked at Tocsin and Deetria. What was Tocsin going to do when it came time to head home? Only time would tell.

Soon, Tocsin raised his head, and said, "Deetria... Are you strong enough to fly yet?"

Deetria lifted her head too, gazed at Tocsin, and replied, "I think I am, now."

The two lifted slowly into the air, and Goldy and Thystian watched. Suddenly, Deetria thrust her head to Tocsin's and kissed him deeply, their tiny mouths meeting. He was surprised at first, and but held a calm expression afterwards.

When she finished, she said, "That's for saving me..." She blushed a little.

Tocsin replied, "I ought to kiss you back then, considering you brought me back from the brink of death. And look at your tail. It's astounding now."

Everyone looked, including Deetria, at her tail. Now, instead of just converting into a single, gloriously white, feather, it split into three gloriously white feathers at the converting point, creating a small fan shape. Deetria slowly waved the fan-shaped tail up and down, then tickled Tocsin's chin with them. He purred again, and Thystian chuckled mildly.

"It's gotta be something having modular DNA like that, Deetria," Goldy remarked.

"I feel incredible now. It's such a wonderful sensation," she replied quietly.

Thystian noted, "Just so you know, according to my scans, you've reached your limit now. You can't absorb any more artifacts, because you've maxed out your elemental capacity in the Light and Holy elements."

Deetria nodded, and replied, "I understand. I could feel it myself."

"Can you heal yourself?" Goldy asked.

"Yep. I can now," Deetria replied.

"Good, cause I was worried a bit about that when I had to give up my Purity Rings," he replied.

Deetria giggled, and hugged Goldy. She then hugged Thystian, and nuzzled Tocsin.

"Where to next, boss?" Goldy asked.

Thystian looked at Goldy and said, "We're going to Deetria's homeworld now... To planet Shiko."

Deetria's eyes lit up, and she squealed with delight, "Yay! I'm going home! Yay yay yaaay! We're gonna go see my family!"

She bounced about, and Tocsin watched, eyes filled with a loving expression. Hiding beneath, was a great dread. Yet now, confidence was beginning to form.

Goldy blinked, and looked at Thystian. Thystian looked back, then they nodded slowly.

Thystian directed them onto the Waypoint. "You might want to shield your eyes for this warp..." Thystian warned.

"...Why?" Goldy asked, Tocsin looking too.

"Compared to Indes... Shiko is... rather bright," Thystian replied.

"Oh boy..." Goldy responded.

With a very quick and sudden warp-away sound, the group disappeared.

The great, pink planet Poppy, the moon of Indes, hovered steadily in the starry sky above. The wind howled wildly about. The crackling of rocks echoed all around. Dust billowed by in the distance. A Dustarus' gentle snoring could be heard. And faintly, in the far distance, the pleasant popping of Petrified Poppy could be heard.

Thystian's mission had come to a conclusion. Soon, everyone would be home.

END

Dragon Tails © Tim Dawson

Wenonah Galaxy © Adrian Smith


	14. 14: Unending Pink

Roseus Elementeus

Chapter Fourteen – Unending Pink

~~00~~

Pink. Endless pink. The land of their arrival was a great, endless grassland. A grassland with a very different shade of color, and only one: pink. This region, the Mighty Grasslands, gained its name for two reasons. The first, being the endlessness of this vast, pleasant savanna. The other, for the towering grass plants, known for being some of the tallest in the Wenonah Galaxy. They easily reached nine feet in height, and were known for their durability.

Spreading about within this vast grassland were trails. Believed to be tramped down by the many herding animals that roamed this world of pink, the trails spider-webbed abroad throughout the land, carpeted by the flattened and pale-pink crushed grass. A gentle breeze hissed through the brush. The sounds of strange bird calls echoed across the region.

A dead-end to one of the trails took the form of a circular area of cropped grass. Within the center of this circular clearing, was a Waypoint. It, like everything else, was pink. The two orbs that floated at two of the four corners of the pad, though, were blue, standing out greatly against the rest of the region.

With a quick warp-in sound, the group appeared. Thystian stood at the front, Goldy beside him. Tocsin and Deetria floated next to each other and near Thystian's head. Goldy stood there, a hand covering his eyes, having taken Thystian's warning about covering them. Tocsin wasn't so prepared, and yelped when the bright pinks and whites of Shiko took the place of the dark greys and blacks of Indes. He closed his eyes hard, and remarked, "Well, now I know for sure why you hate Indes so much, Deetria. I have never seen so much pink all at once before."

Deetria, absolutely elated to be back home, giggled. She flitted about the clearing of grass, humming cheerily. Goldy slowly peeked out between two fingers and uncovered his eyes. At first he squinted, and looked around, astonished. "Did one of you guys slip rosy contact lenses into my eyes before we warped or something?" he asked.

Thystian spoke, "This, my friends, is planet Shiko, the Pink Planet. Nearly everything on this world is pink. There is the very rare exception, but for the most part, this is the only color you'll find."

"Not very much variety to it then, is it?" Tocsin responded.

Thystian pointed to Deetria as he replied, "Some people love it."

Deetria swooped around, cheering and giggling, being almost completely invisible against the backdrop of pink. If not for her chromatic feather, black eyes and white tail feathers, she'd disappear completely within it. Goldy smiled, and Tocsin's expression softened at the sight, his eyes now open fully. Goldy, too, had gotten used to the brightness. He looked up at the sky, and could see that it was pink, and splashed with the occasional white cloud. He looked out at the grass, which towered over the group, and saw that it too was pink. Everything was varying shades of pink. "NOT the planet for macho-men," Goldy noted.

Thystian chuckled a bit at this. Deetria swooped over to the others and squealed, "Let's go! I wanna go home! I miss everyone so much!"

"Give me just a minute Deetria. I need to inform the Mothership of our arrival and this little detour we'll be taking," Thystian responded.

Deetria nodded, and flew to Tocsin, nuzzling him and flying circles around him. He watched as she did, while Goldy watched Thystian step away from the group to near the edge of the clearing, the huge grass standing before him. "General Thystian to Mega SPGXA Mothership. Come in. Over."

After a moment, Savanna's voice returned on his comm, "Savanna here. We have detected your arrival. Are you ready for beam-up? Over."

Thystian replied, "Negative Savanna. We've got one more side-objective to accomplish before we'll be ready for departure. Please stand by and wait for my transmission. Over."

Savanna responded, "Acknowledged, Thystian. Standing by. Over."

Thystian, nodding to himself, said, "Confirmed. Over and out."

As Thystian spoke to Savanna, Tocsin spoke to Deetria, "Well Deetria, now that we're here, do you know where your home is?"

Deetria stopped bouncing when asked this question, and fell silent. She looked around, and replied, "...I don't. I haven't had a chance to explore the whole grassland region... I... forgot about that."

Tocsin sighed, and said, to everyone mostly, "Looks like we've got just a little more trekking to do then."

Goldy responded, "After all that, this little bit doesn't look like it's gonna be a big deal. Though, maybe you could fly above the grass and see if you could get a good look? What does your home look like, Deetria?"

Deetria replied, "It's a giant tree! It's so pretty... And it's so big it can hold all of my friends and family with room to spare!"

"A giant tree huh?" Tocsin said, thinking and looking at the tops of the grasses.

"Oh but you wouldn't be able to see it from here..." Deetria said, quietly, "You can only see so far before everything disappears behind the Pink Haze."

"Is that like Distance Fog?" Goldy asked, and Deetria nodded.

Tocsin flew up high, getting above the grass, and peered into the distance. As Deetria had stated, he could see pretty far. He could see that the grass did spread in every direction, but soon all of the endless pinks seemed to just blend together into one pink haze. He narrowed an eye, and flew back down. "Yep... More trekking," he repeated.

Deetria cooed at Tocsin, which calmed him a bit. Thystian now approached, and said, "Alright, we're ready to go. Lead the way, Deetria."

"Yay!" She squealed, as she turned and headed for the trail connected to the clearing.

Tocsin, Goldy and Thystian followed.

~~01~~

The land undulated very gently as the group traveled. The trail seemed to meander about within the grasslands. A gentle breeze pleasantly blew through, rustling the huge grasses, and Tocsin listened to the strange bird calls that could be heard. He flinched when he noticed Deetria getting too far ahead. "Deetria!" he exclaimed.

She stopped and looked back at him. He continued, "Don't get too far ahead, Deetria. You start to disappear into the pink when you do."

Deetria giggled, and replied, "Aww. It's so sweet of you to worry like that, but it's ok! There's no danger on this planet! The animals are all nice! If you want, just keep an eye out for my feathers! Hee hee."

Tocsin nodded, sighing. Deetria let the group catch up, before flitting about erratically within the passage through the grasslands. Goldy kept rubbing his eyes and blinking. "I dunno man, I don't think I'm going to ever get used to all this. It was such a violent color shift, but now I'm just seeing everything in a DIFFERENT solid color..." Goldy muttered. He looked at Thystian and asked, "How do you tolerate all this pink?"

Thystian chuckled, and replied, "Oh, I've been to this planet many times. NeoSPGXA is in the process of building a Pylon Tower here. We're working to build one of those on every planet so we can keep an eye on the conditions of the planets, in case they need our help."

"Cool. Is that what you needed those elements for?" Goldy inquired.

Thystian replied, "Yes for some, no for others. The Marium Amethyst'll come in handy, as will the Darklight Crystal, but we don't need to do any blasting or teleporting. We just have a checklist of items from each system we send out agents to collect, which we then synthetically reproduce. It takes a toll on the original material though, so we have to replace it every so often."

A rustling in the grass echoed around the group. Deetria kept flitting happily. Everyone ignored the sound, as the wind would cause the same noise.

"No wonder you seemed to have a handle on the whole mission the entire time. You've done this before, haven't you?" Goldy said, watching Deetria flit by ahead.

"Not to this sector, but yeah, I have done this before for others. Believe me, some of the portions of the mission we went on weren't even close to as hard as some of the previous missions I've been on. Some of them take up to a dozen agents to be completed. There are a lot of extremely hostile planets in this galaxy. Some either by nature or by inhabitants," Thystian spoke, looking up at the sky.

More rustling echoed from the grasses. Tocsin looked around a little, wondering about that.

"Wow... We lucked out on the difficulty then, didn't we?" Goldy said, looking at some of the grass next to him on the trail.

"We had it easy compared to some, yeah," Thystian said, quieting, having noticed the rustling too.

Deetria flitted about, sometimes disappearing into the grass, and peeking out at Tocsin as he passed by her. She giggled, and swooped in to nuzzle him. Goldy walked over to some grass and ripped a gigantic blade of it out. He ripped it in half short ways, then wrapped half around his head, before stuffing the other half's end between the grass band on his head and his head itself. Deetria giggled at the sight, the huge grass stalk standing up a bit before curving to point down. "You look like... some kind of really weird quail," Tocsin noted.

Thystian chuckled at the sight too, as the group moved on through the meandering trail within the grass. A pair of white eyes peered out from amongst the grass at Goldy as he messed with the plants. It was unnoticed, as it slipped back into the pink.

More rustling of the grass echoed, and Tocsin was becoming unnerved by this sound, which clearly was not caused by the wind. Wary, he asked, "Deetria, you said the animals were all nice on this planet. But every planet has predators. Are there any predators in this region?"

Deetria stopped flitting, and thought for a moment. She looked at Tocsin, shaking her head slowly, as she replied, "No... None that I know of. Why?"

"I'm just getting really nervous by all that rustling around us," he replied.

Deetria nuzzled Tocsin, attempting to calm him down, and resumed flitting happily, humming to herself. The others looked at each other, and Goldy said, "I don't like it either... Let's keep moving. Maybe there are some small animals or something just congregated in the grasses."

They nodded, and resumed course, at a slightly faster pace for a time. Though they would occasionally hear the grass rustle still more.

Humming, Deetria stroked herself against a tall blade of grass and sighed contentedly. "It's so good to be home... I've wanted to come home for a while now. The rest of the Wenonah Galaxy is so pretty, but so scary too..."

She continued to flit about, and the others glanced at each other as they listened to her. After some time, Goldy began to get the distinct sensation that something was following him. He stopped, and everyone else stopped upon seeing him do so. He slowly turned around, and saw the source of the sensation. Stalking a short distance behind him in the trail, was a very large tigerlike creature. Its fur was striped pink and white. Its ears looked more like pretty, pink flowers. Its tail was much more visible, as it was green, covered in thorns, and ended in a pink rose. Goldy's eyes widened. The tiger roared. Goldy shrieked.

"You said no predators, yet we see that!" Tocsin exclaimed.

"But... it's just a Rose Tiger! They're pretty and friendly!" Deetria exclaimed.

Goldy, freaking and panicking, fled past the group as the tiger pursued with a snarl. Thystian, tensing, said, "You forget, Deetria, that the predators of this planet will attack creatures that aren't dominantly pink like the rest of the landscape!"

Deetria's eyes widened when Thystian stated this, then squealed when Thystian yelled in reaction to a pounce attack by a second Rose Tiger. It quickly knocked him to the ground, snarling, and attempted to bite at his neck. Thystian grabbed its head, grunting, holding it back.

Deetria exclaimed, "No! This isn't supposed to happen! Everything's supposed to be nice! Bad tiger! Bad!" she squealed.

Tocsin, inhaled to attack, but Thystian shouted, "Tocsin no! Don't use any fire attacks here! That stuff will ignite the whole grassland!"

Tocsin stopped, grunting angrily. Deetria squealed. She was upset over the attack. Thystian continued to strain against the Rose Tiger, and Tocsin helplessly watched angrily. Behind him, creeping out of the grass, was a third Rose Tiger. It stalked, low to the ground, eyes locked on him, and opened its mouth. It emitted a faint growl before lunging at Tocsin. Hearing the sound, Tocsin reacted with an immediate upward rise to avoid the snapping Rose Tiger. It snarled, looking up at him, and he turned to look back down at it, eyes narrowed.

Goldy raced past the group again, screaming, arms flailing, and the first Rose Tiger galloped by in hot pursuit. Deetria looked about at the sights, frantic and upset. She felt betrayed. She squealed, distressed.

Thystian's opponent snarled at him, struggling to push its head against Thystian's arms. With a yell, Thystian added force through his suit to thrust the Tiger off of him. It performed a somersault in the air and landed in the trail, hopping around to face Thystian, growling. Thystian drew his bow immediately.

Goldy fled by the group again, still screaming, and the pursuing Tiger charged by with a snarl, still intent on the kill.

Tocsin rose higher as the Rose Tiger leapt after him to slash with its white claws. Tocsin avoided these attacks successfully, very aggravated by the fact that he couldn't fight back. Deetria, however, was upset more by the attack on Tocsin. Her chromatic feather powered up. When the Rose Tiger landed from a leap up at Tocsin, Deetria blasted the animal with a burst of burning light energy. It tumbled back a bit, yowling. Deetria, still upset, squealed, "BAD tiger! Bad!!"

The Rose Tiger got to its feet, and began to cower before Deetria. Tocsin blinked at the sight. Deetria scolded more, and the animal turned and fled into the grass, disappearing. Tocsin slowly returned to Deetria, confused.

Thystian's enemy hunched, snarling, before bounding at Thystian with a roar. The next second, an arrow struck the beast between the eyes. With a cut-off yelp, the tiger collapsed to the ground, and pink blood oozed from the wound. The creature was dead.

Deetria watched this, and was overcome with sadness. Goldy fled by the group once more, running out of breath. The Rose Tiger however, had plenty of stamina to go. As soon as it began to pass the group however, Thystian thrust his bow in front of its feet, causing the big animal to crash. It got up, snarling, but then caught sight of its dead companion. It looked at Thystian, and found itself staring down the tip of an arrow drawn tight. It whimpered, backed away slowly, and, turning, fled into the brush. Thystian slowly undrew the arrow, and watched. "Deetria..." Tocsin said, "What exactly just happened?"

Deetria sighed, floating over to the slain tiger, and looked at it. She whimpered a little, and looked at the two. She spoke, "I had no idea these animals were hostile to non-pink beings... The Dimension Dragons of this planet, including my family and friends, are all at peace with them. They help us, and we help them with things. They respect us, even revere us as the mightiest creature. They even listen to little ones like me!"

"That would make sense," Thystian remarked, "As a race of dragons, you can become the most powerful of creatures on the planet. Often, it's the dragons that are among the strongest, and most intelligent."

"Only fitting, I'd say," Tocsin responded. He watched as Deetria closed the eyes of the slain tiger, still sad.

Goldy ran by the group, screaming as if he were still being chased. Thystian stuck his foot out and tripped Goldy on passing, and with a yell Goldy crashed to the crushed grass ground and slid slightly, before laying there limp for a moment. Everyone gathered, and looked at him. He slowly sat up, and shook his head. "Where'd the Tiger go?!" he exclaimed.

"We drove them off," Thystian replied.

"That, Deetria, is the epitome of blind panic," Tocsin noted.

Deetria sighed, giggling just slightly. She looked once more at the slain Rose Tiger. Goldy got up, and turned. Seeing the Tiger, he yelped, but then realized it was dead. He walked over and looked at it closer. The others observed him. "...It's kinda pretty when it's not chasing you down with intention to eat you..." Goldy remarked.

After a minute to reorient themselves, the group moved on.

~~02~~

The land continued to undulate gently as the group traveled through the meandering trail. Deetria, filled with bliss, drifted about humming. She would often disappear in the grass, try to sneak up on one of the guys, and squeal to surprise them. "What do you think you are, a Misdreavus?!" Thystian shouted when she caught him off guard.

Deetria giggled, and flitted about, before flying ahead. "Deetria wait!" Tocsin exclaimed, flying after her.

"Do you think there are any other creatures we might need to worry about on this planet Thystian?" Goldy asked, as the two moved faster to go after Deetria.

"Well, like Tocsin said, every planet has its predators. I knew about the Rose Tigers, and there are a few other creatures in this region, but whether or not we'll actually encounter them, I don't know," Thystian replied.

"I heard what you said about avoiding fire usage here, so if we have any big enemies to fight, it's gonna be tough to defend ourselves," Goldy said.

Thystian spoke, "Leave that to me Goldy. Shiko's beasts aren't as deadly as some of the other planets'. You saw how we were able to drive off the Rose Tigers. Because we have Deetria with us, most creatures should leave us alone. Those Tigers looked young and inexperienced, thus the attack."

"Yeah, but no less deadly, despite all the pink," Goldy responded.

They caught up to the two little ones, and found that they had stopped at a fork in the trail. One path headed to the left, one kept going straight, and a third headed off to the right. "Which one... Which one... I wish I'd taken the time to explore the whole grassland!" Deetria exclaimed.

"We're at a fork, Thystian. Do you know which way we should to go?" Tocsin asked, looking at him.

"Give me a minute," Thystian replied.

The group watched as Thystian took out his mapping device, and set it up. The wind gently blew through the area, and Deetria took to flitting about again. Tocsin watched her instead of Thystian, while Goldy messed with his grass headdress. He added two more grass blades to create a fanning formation emerging from the back of his head. They flopped near their tips. He started doing a strange dance to amuse himself. He flinched slightly when he heard a strange animal call in the distance. He looked around, and shrugged.

After a few minutes, Thystian broke the silence, as he said, "Well, the tree is apparently out of range, but coupled with the mapping records already acquired, I'd say we need to take the right path. ...I think. I'm pretty sure. And if it ain't it, we can just backtrack and try another. ...Goldy, what the heck are you doing?"

"My tribal dance! Whoo whoo whoo," Goldy replied.

Deetria giggled as Goldy kept dancing, the huge grass blades moving about over him. Tocsin rolled his eyes, and Thystian put his device away. He directed the group up the right path, the land of which sloped upward gently.

The breeze softly blew through as the group traveled up the path. It was relatively straight compared to the meandering path they were traveling on before. Occasionally, Goldy adjusted his grass headdress, as the tilted grass blades would slowly start to fall over. "I am so keeping this," he said.

Thystian chuckled, and Deetria giggled. She had calmed a bit by now, mostly keeping next to Tocsin, as the group traveled onward. After a minute, they heard a strange call echo from the distance ahead. It sounded like three honks, followed by a drawn out lowing sound. They looked at each other upon hearing this, while Deetria squealed, "Hey! I know that sound! That's a Castlanaff! Let's go see the Castlanaffs Tocsin!"

She swooped ahead, and Tocsin quickly followed after. Goldy and Thystian also followed, as Goldy said, "Castlanaff? What the heck?"

"Placid grazing animal. Looks like a fusion of a giraffe, a swan, and human castle structures. Weird creatures, but shouldn't be a problem," Thystian explained.

Goldy nodded, as they moved after Deetria, up the hill. They reached a clearing after a moment, and came to a stop. This clearing was much larger than the one they had started at, and large clumps of grass grew in patchwork positions around the clearing. At the other end of the large clearing, the trail continued on.

Deetria squealed in delight at the sight of the very tall creatures that gently strolled about within the clearing, some munching at the tops of the equally tall, pink grasses. The creatures were the size and relative design of a giraffe. The hind legs were those of a giraffe, with cloven hooves that appeared to be made of stone or brick. The front legs, however, resembled those of a swan, with webbed feet. The head, and flexible neck, too, resembled a swan's. A fine sail of sorts, that resembled cloth-like material used for flags, spread down the back of the neck, from the back of the head to near where the neck connected to the body. The flag-like sail was much longer on the back of the head, actually resembling a flag. When a breeze passed through the clearing, the flag-like growth would flap gently in the wind. The beak of the face appeared to be made of stone or brick, in the shape of a swan's beak, ending flat and square. The eyes appeared generally black, like holes. On the head was a crown of sorts that resembled the multi-height parapets of a castle defense tower, similar to the Rook chess piece. The main body was mostly giraffe-like in appearance, but looked like it was made of brick or stone, with a coloration and marking design resembling mortared brickwork, though the colors all throughout were various shades of pink. The edges of the back were lined with similar, multi-height parapet formations like those found on castle walls. A short tail of sorts, resembling a narrow flag, apparently made solely of flesh, emerged above the rump. It too would move with the wind.

Goldy's eyes widened, and he said quietly, "Whoa... This galaxy has some of the weirdest animals."

Thystian chuckled, watching the very tall animals slowly mind their own business. "Such amazing animals!" Deetria squealed, "I've always loved them!"

"I have to admit, I've never seen anything like them before," Tocsin replied, watching the creatures move about calmly.

They watched as Goldy stepped into the clearing to approach a Castlanaff. He stopped, and the group watched as one of the animals rose its head and honked three times, before drawing out a lowing noise. Another call was heard echoing far in the distance. Goldy resumed his approach when he felt it was safe to do so, getting closer to one of the Castlanaffs, looking up at it. He caught a glimpse of movement amidst the parapets that lined the back of the Castlanaff, and the next second, he was hit in the eye by a small, pink, flying rock. "OUCH!" he exclaimed.

The group flinched, and could see the source of the shot. Up in the parapets of the Castlanaff's back, was a small, furry creature. A slightly anthropomorphic wombat creature, standing at about a foot and a half in height. Despite a mostly unchanged appearance from the wombat, it appeared to be capable of walking on its hind legs. The toes of its four feet were slightly longer, and came with an opposable thumb. As with everything else, the creature's body colors were pink, though its eyes were black. It was clearly an angry humanoid wombat, however, as it shook its fist at Goldy, chittering angrily, its other hand armed with a slingshot. "...Is that Norman's Australian cousin or something?" Goldy remarked, a hand over his eye.

Deetria squealed at the sight of dozens more of the wombat creatures popping up from behind the parapets of the dozen or so Castlanaffs. Goldy yelled out and fled away from the Castlanaff, covering his head and fleeing from more projectiles by the diminutive creatures, who were armed with tiny slingshots and bows.

Tocsin looked at Thystian, who said, "Vombans. Irritating little wombat creatures that are quite territorial. They can get pretty angry, especially if there's a crowd of them, and can start rioting at the slightest disturbance."

Watching Goldy run, Tocsin replied, "I think they count us as a disturbance."

Many of the Vombans hopped off of the Castlanaffs, their stout little bodies withstanding the long drop from their perspective, and rushed toward the group wielding huge scissors-like weapons. Thystian was hit in the chest by a small arrow, which simply broke apart on his armor. He looked out, seeing the Vombans on the backs of the placid Castlanaffs firing more arrows at the group. Thystian sighed. Deetria, however was upset, and rushed forward. "No! No! We came to see the Castlanaffs, not bother you! Stop!" she squealed.

Some Vombans did stop, seeing her, and glanced at each other. They then ran past her, heading after the running Goldy. "No!" Deetria squealed, frustrated.

Tocsin flew to her, swooping upward to avoid scissors-snapping attacks by the scads of angry pygmy creatures, and got to Deetria. "Deetria..." he said, and the two hovered higher than the Vombans could reach.

Deetria whined, "Tocsin, I'm so sorry! I don't understand why they're doing this!"

"It's not your fault. This planet's just as wild as the rest, just in its own way. I like the Castlanaffs, and I appreciate you inviting me to look at them," he said softly.

Deetria looked at Tocsin, and drew closer. She said, "I'm glad, Tocsin... It's all I wanted to do."

Thystian waded through the seething mass of angry Vombans, and past the Tocsin and Deetria. The Vombans shot Thystian with rocks and arrows and snapped their hedge-clipper weapons against his legs, though more often than not, the weapons simply broke when they were used on Thystian's armor. This only made the Vombans angrier, especially since Thystian was ignoring them. Some tried to climb up his body, but he would grab them and toss them off.

Goldy ran by, yelling, being hurt only a little by the attacks, his strong gold hide resisting for the most part. Deetria watched all of this, and lowered her head in sadness. She looked at Tocsin however, when he laid a wing on her, and said, "Come on. Let's just go. I'm sure there'll be other things for us to see. And we need to get you home."

Deetria replied sadly, "Okay..."

Wading through the angry crowd of Vombans, Thystian approached the trail at the other end of the clearing. Goldy, seeing where Thystian was going, quickly followed, heading after him, covering his head still from the rain of pathetic projectiles from the Vombans still on the tall Castlanaffs. Ironically, the Castlanaffs seemed completely oblivious to the chaos all around them.

Once the group had entered the clearing, they started to run to get away from the Vombans. Some of the miscreant rodent beings insisted on pursuing however, while most gave up after a time. Thystian stopped running when there were only a few left, and turned. Thrusting a hand, he shouted loudly, "BACK OFF!!"

The Vombans skidded to a stop, and Deetria added, "GO AWAY! You're ruining everything!"

The creatures glared. They shrieked however when Deetria fired a beam of light at the ground in front of them, and they fled.

The group held still for the moment, the wind blowing by gently, the ruckus of the clearing still echoing behind them. "I am so sorry... Thystian, Goldy, Tocsin, I didn't expect it to be like this at all! I was hoping everything would be all peaceful with a nice, quiet walk to my home! This is ruining your first impression of my homeworld..." Deetria said, head held low.

Tocsin nuzzled Deetria, surprising her, and she blushed. Goldy replied, "It's alright. Those guys were pathetic compared to some of the threats we've dealt with in the past. And I DID like those Castlanaffs. Man, I am going to have so much painting to do when I get home."

Deetria held close to Tocsin for a moment in a hug, and replied, "Thank you Goldy..."

"And I've already encountered stuff like this before, so it's no big deal," Thystian added.

Deetria sighed. "Thank you all for being so patient..." she said quietly.

They all nodded, and began to move onward along the trail. Deetria resumed leading, and Tocsin, quietly, spoke, "Besides... I think this planet is beautiful. It reminds me of you, Deetria."

In a sudden u-turn, Deetria swooped back and kissed Tocsin. The others kept walking, though Goldy smiled. Deetria whispered, "Tocsin, you know just the things to cheer me up. Thank you..."

Tocsin nodded, with a soft, gentle expression.

~~03~~

After some time, Goldy began to notice that the land seemed relatively featureless compared to some of the other planets. He continued to mess with his grass headdress, and fix some of the blades when they went awry. The sound of insects and frog creatures echoed near them, as they descended down a hill.

Nearing the end, they entered another clearing. It had three paths branching off from it in different directions. In the center of the large clearing however, was a very large pond. The water was pink, which came as no surprise to the group, though Goldy was wary at first. "Pink water... Does it have something in it?" he asked, looking out at it.

Deetria was happy to see yet more water to play in, and swooped out toward the pond. Thystian replied, "Nope. It's just reflecting the colors of everything else."

The wind blew through gently, and a bird call echoed in the distance. Chirping animals lingered amidst clusters of pink reeds in various sections of the pond. Goldy, eager to take another break, set his Spilievern Pouch on the ground, and put his grass headdress next to it, before wading out into the water, and began floating on his back. He gazed at the pink sky, feeling calm.

Thystian noticed the three paths, and took out his mapping device. He checked again for which direction the group needed to head in.

Deetria splashed about in the pink water, very happy. "There's a pond like this one near my home! Some of my earliest memories are of playing in that pond," she said happily.

Tocsin drifted over, willing to be close to the water to watch her. She floated on her back in the water, and sighed contently. She looked up at Tocsin, and said, "I love water. I've grown up around it. I could spend hours playing in water."

Tocsin replied, "And I could spent hours watching you play in the water."

Deetria rose up from the water and nuzzled Tocsin. He looked at her, and she looked back with a warm expression. She spoke, "We've been through so much together. It's been one roller-coaster ride after the next. I still remember that look you gave me when we first made eye contact back in that cell in the Insectid Barracks. It was so cute how you said, 'It's another me!'" She giggled.

"And now you've grown up. I could swear you're at least a few inches bigger in all directions since we first met," Tocsin said, looking Deetria over.

She blushed a little as she looked at herself, and looked down at her reflection in the pink water. She noticed Tocsin peer at her reflection too, and said, "This is all thanks to you, Tocsin. You gave me all those beautiful gifts, you saved me so many times, and you helped me learn about bravery. I'll... never be as brave as you though."

Tocsin replied softly, "I wouldn't have you any other way, Deetria."

Deetria cooed, and held herself against Tocsin, eyes closed. He closed his eyes also, and the two hovered together for a few minutes.

Goldy swam to the edge of the pond, near Thystian, and said, "So what are your plans once you've sent us home?"

Thystian quietly replied, "Go see Zessta."

Goldy was silent. He nodded with a smile, and said, "You still feeling regretful over 'dragging' us along on this whole mission?"

Thystian looked at Goldy and asked, "Do you feel like you've been 'dragged' along?"

Goldy shook his head as he replied, "Not at all. I had wanted my own adventure, and while this may have been just a tad long-winded, it was worth it. We're like brothers ourselves now, I've got so many experiences, and Tocsin scored a girlfriend."

"I'd be willing to wager you did too, Goldy," Thystian said with the hint of a smirk in his voice.

"Yeah well... Not at the level Tocsin's is at," Goldy said, looking over at the cuddling little dragons.

"You ready to go home, Goldy?" Thystian said, now putting away his mapping device.

"Yeah. I've had a great time, but I'm starting to get a little homesick. Let's go to Deetria's home first, though, and get her back to her family," he replied.

Thystian nodded. He said, "The path straight ahead should lead us to our destination."

Goldy nodded, and swam to the other side of the pond. Thystian picked up Goldy's Spilievern Pouch and looked at the grass blade pieces Goldy was using as his headdress. He picked them up too, and hopped onto his Hoverboard. He flew across to the other side quickly. Noticing him, Tocsin and Deetria moved to follow as well, and they gathered at the other end, Thystian hopping back off his board once there.

He handed Goldy his Spilievern Pouch and grass pieces, and said, "This should be the right path. I still can't detect the actual tree though, so we'll keep walking."

Everyone nodded, and headed off down the path, back into the thick grasslands. Goldy reset the grass on his head like a headdress again.

~~04~~

Marching along, the group spoke about their past experiences during this trip. "So then she asked me the third riddle, and I got it right away. It was kinda easy, especially when we locked eyes," Goldy said.

"Love... Such a simple, yet beautiful answer," Deetria remarked. She looked at Tocsin.

"Wasn't much of it where we ended up," he said, "And Deetria, just for the sake of satisfaction, none of those Trochairies were nearly as beautiful as you."

Deetria blushed, and clung to Tocsin, pressing the side of her face against his, and said, "Aww Tocsin, you're embarrassing me."

Goldy chuckled. He looked at Thystian and said, "How many creatures did we manage to kill anyway?"

"A whole freakin' lot, Goldy... You guys impressed me with your teamwork," Thystian replied.

"Well, we've had to fight a few things back home too," Goldy replied, looking onward.

The group was currently climbing a somewhat steep hill, and Goldy and Thystian leaned forward to keep their balance. "Yeah, but the Brachy'Ire? Malamanita'Verna? Vulgaris Tentacles?" Deetria blushed slightly, remembering the very tender moment she and Tocsin had at the end of that fight. Thystian continued, "Greater Noxiuns... Frore Storm Lord... Malophiicets..."

"We technically didn't 'defeat' those things, just drove them off," Tocsin noted.

"And I have this really bad feeling they came back after we left..." Goldy remarked.

"Well, the Nebula Guardian forces aren't like a ragtag team of ShimmerStone Refinery workers. If the Malophiicets did return, they'll be in for a nasty surprise," Thystian said, looking out over the distance.

The group had reached the top of the hill, and it sloped sharply downward shortly after. They could see, faintly, in the distance, a very large, round clearing, with no features to it. "Hnn..." Thystian droned.

Goldy sat suddenly, and began to roll down the hill. He laughed as he did, and Tocsin blinked in surprise. Deetria giggled. "...Well one thing's for sure, Goldy knows how to entertain himself when he's got nothing to do," Thystian remarked.

"Yeah, he's been like that since we met," Tocsin replied.

The three headed down after Goldy. At the bottom of the hill, he lay, his grass blade headdress ruined by the rolling. He took it off and sighed, setting it on the ground. Once the others arrived, he said, "If I had had this Spilievern Pouch since the beginning, I would have collected souvenirs from all of the planets we'd visited."

"You still have that Denatro Pepper Sandwich, don't you?" Thystian asked, heading forward toward the huge clearing.

"Nah, I checked, and I used the last one on that Dustarus. It looked like two in there, but it was just one," Goldy replied.

"Ah, so it's got nothing but trash now," Thystian replied.

They drew near to the clearing, and Goldy replied, "Yep. I'll have nothing to show but for my memories on canvass."

They entered the large clearing now, and looked around. The area was trampled very flat, like a lot of foot activity had occurred here. Everyone's eyes widened at the fact that, all along the edges of this huge clearing, were dozens of paths leading out. "Holy crap, which way do we GO?!" Goldy exclaimed.

Thystian sighed, walking to the center of the clearing. He stopped suddenly when he noticed a number of pink blotches in various areas on the ground. Goldy noticed as well when Thystian reacted, and he quickly grew fearful. "Guys... I see more dried blood," he whispered.

Deetria shrieked at this, and squealed, "It's horrible! How could this be?!"

"Predation surprises you Deetria?" Tocsin replied.

"It's... it's... Not on my homeworld! I..." she stammered, and started whimpering. Tocsin laid a wing on Deetria's head, and she looked at him sadly.

"I wanted you to see the beauty of my world... Instead, we're seeing nothing but the badness..." she whimpered.

Tocsin drew his face close and said, "Just by looking at YOU, I see all the beauty your world can muster."

Goldy grinned at hearing this, despite his fear. Deetria blushed deeply, and hovered there, gazing at Tocsin.

"That IS dried blood, and I think we've entered some kind of arena! Here we go again!" Thystian shouted from where he stood. He drew his bow quickly.

"Well, I suppose one last big fight wouldn't hurt, much," Goldy said, a little nervous.

Deetria sighed sadly, and yelped when the group heard a strange, loud, snarling yowl echo from the grass from a direction. They looked, and heard the sounds of plants sprouting noisily from the ground. Every single passage all around them was suddenly closed off by huge, pink, thorny roots protruding from the ground. Tocsin's eyes narrowed, Goldy readied himself to fight, and Deetria's feathers bristled a little. "I'm gonna help! I didn't want to have to fight any more, but anything that would threaten my friends on my homeworld needs to be stopped!"

Tocsin looked at Deetria, admiring her newly found spirit. "Stay with me, Deetria. Stay close," he said softly.

Deetria did so, gazing at him for just a moment, before a crashing sound from the grass got their attention. Thystian looked, and the group could see a huge lizard leap out of the grass and into the field. It walked calmly, emitting a hissing sound, taking in the sight of the four friends. They too, took a good look at this monster. It was easily ten feet in length, and stood about three feet tall. As such, it was just a little flat to the ground. It had the very close resemblance of a Gila Monster, though its body consisted of a speckled pink and white coloration. All along its back, as well as on the joints of its limbs, were large flowers. Their buds however appeared to be made of variously colored gemstones. It also had a flower draping just above and in front of its mouth. Deetria whimpered at the sight, and said, "Noooo... Not that thing! Why did we have to run into that?! It's so evil!"

"What IS it?!" Goldy exclaimed.

"Gemflower Hela! An extremely strong plant reptile creature! It must be the source of those roots..." Thystian exclaimed from where he stood, ready to react.

"It eats Dimension Dragons! It's the only creature we know that refuses to respect us!" Deetria exclaimed.

"Well, with us, now will be your chance, Deetria, to avenge those dragons it has eaten," Tocsin said, with a stern tone.

He and Deetria exchanged a look, and nodded. The creature suddenly roared loudly at the group, and charged forward at high speed. Thystian fired an arrow, which bounced off the creature's tough hide. It barreled toward the group, and snapped viciously at them as it passed. Goldy dove out of the way, and was kicked mid-dive, being knocked away a short distance. Tocsin avoided completely, Deetria squealing in fear but staying with Tocsin. He blazed flames on the creature's flower patch, and the flowers seemed to shimmer from the attack, but otherwise not react. The creature suddenly veered to the side and charged at Thystian, closing its mouth and slamming into him, launching him over it and to the ground.

The creature kept charging onward, and reached the grassy edge, before turning and running along the outer edge of the clearing. Thystian climbed to his feet, and rushed to join the group. Tocsin and Deetria flew to Goldy, who climbed to his feet. "We can use flames here, yes, just try to avoid using ones that might reach the grassy outer area," Thystian stated.

Tocsin and Goldy nodded. They watched as the beast ran along in its awkward manner. Switching to his mallet, Thystian readied himself for another attack by the creature. They watched, as it ran and ran, then stopped abruptly, peering at them through one eye on the side of the head. Deetria, with a squeal, took this opportunity to fire a heavy blast of light energy at the creature. To everyone's horror, the shot curved out of control upwards and swooped down into the creature's back flowers. They shone, and emitted sparkles. The creature's nose flower also sparkled, and it aimed the flower at the group. It fired back at them Deetria's own shot. They scattered to avoid, Deetria squealing, upset. "It's got some kinda Sheegoth thing goin'!" Goldy exclaimed.

"I told you to quit referencing video games, Goldy!" Tocsin shouted.

Deetria squealed, upset, "Ohhhh WHY?! I can't fight it..."

Tocsin moved close again and said, "Then keep us healed, Deetria..."

Deetria gazed at Tocsin, and nodded. She quickly nuzzled him, before the group had to ready for another attack. With a crazy roar, the Gemflower Hela charged toward the group again, mouth open for snapping attacks. Goldy, with barely a moment to spare, blazed flames at the creature. It simply charged on through them, mouth wide open to attack. Thystian jumped to the side, turned, and hopped sideways again, mallet raised, and proceeded to slam the thing down on the creature's head. Its whole body jolted from the move, stopping it dead in its tracks, and only an inch away from Goldy. He shuddered.

He shrieked when the creature swung its head, turning it sideways, and clamped its maw on Thystian. Thystian yelled out as the creature flailed and thrashed him, bashing him a few times against the ground. Deetria shrieked, and Tocsin blasted the creature with a plasma orb. The explosion caused the creature to fling Thystian to the edge of the field, and snap fiercely at Tocsin. Tocsin quickly backed away, breathing more plasma flames into the creature's mouth. With no effect, the creature charged forward, performing a hard upward thrust of its head as it did, to strike Tocsin and launch him upward a short distance. He stopped himself however and growled. Deetria quickly caught up, while Goldy stood there clutching his chest and making "herk" noises.

Thystian got to his feet quickly, and muttered. He proceeded to leap high into the air, swooping out toward the creature, mallet raised. The creature stopped, and looked at Thystian with one eye, head tilted slightly to do so. Crashing down, Thystian slammed his mallet onto the creature's back, striking a large number of the many gem-producing flowers. The creature yowled, and cracking was heard on impact. Raising his mallet, Thystian could see that many of the flowers had taken damage from this attack. He understood now, but didn't have time for more action as the creature suddenly turned and smashed its tail into Thystian, flinging him back across the field.

Eyes locked on Goldy, the creature charged forward, blaring a loud roar. Goldy looked, and shrieked again. Just as the creature was about to snap at him, he leapt straight up, landed on the charging creature's head, bounced down its back, tripped on a flower, and fell off behind the creature as it kept running. With a thud, Goldy landed head first onto the ground.

With a roaring yell, Thystian flew out of nowhere and slammed his mallet down on the creature's head, again stopping it immediately where it was. And immediately following, Thystian performed a backward somersault to avoid as the creature snapped at him, as it had done before. "Not THIS time fiend!" Thystian shouted.

The creature emitted a strange hiss, mouth open, and launched forth from its mouth a big, pink, powdery ball that left a soft trail of pink powder. The ball burst on hitting Thystian, and he stood there. He tilted his head, and said, "...What was that, your powder puff shot?"

Angrily, the creature turned and rushed at Thystian. With a graceful and fast leap to the side, Thystian avoided the attack, and shouted, "Ho ho!"

"He's making sport of this... Thystian, pay attention!" Goldy shouted.

"I hate not being able to do anything!" Tocsin complained.

"I'm keeping its attention on ME Goldy. You guys just keep your eyes on it and avoid its attacks. I'll handle this! It's my duty to protect you all, as I have done so since day one on this mission, and I'm not about to stop!" Thystian exclaimed.

"It's in battle when Thystian's nobility really shines," Deetria commented.

"I can't express how glad I am that we met the guy when we did... We would NOT have survived all of this without him," Goldy said, looking at the two.

"Stop talking and pay attention!" Thystian shouted, readying, watching the creature as it ran along the outside edge of the field.

They all shut up and watched, keeping a sharp eye on the creature. It stopped running after a moment, and looked at Thystian. Thystian held a dynamic pose, and performed a "come here" gesture with his hand. The creature obliged. It blared a loud roar, and Thystian readied. He was not quite ready enough however. The creature backed up slightly, building strength, and then rushed forward incredibly fast. Much faster than it had run before. It smashed its muzzle into Thystian, launching him high up and over the creature. Thystian crashed head first into the ground, while the creature ran onward and hopped into the plants at the opposite end of the field.

"The MOMENT I get confident..." Thystian muttered, as he climbed to his feet.

The group watched the tall grass sway about excitedly as the creature ran along, cloaked partially by the plants. After a moment, it stopped, and there was silence. The group glanced at each other, then looked in time to see the creature peek out of the grass. Opening its mouth, the beast began to spray at the group volleys of needle-sharp gemstones. Tocsin moved to shield Deetria, and was struck by one. He yelled out, the gem stabbing in before shattering.

Goldy was struck in the eye. "MY FRIGGEN OVERSIZE EYE! AUGH!" he screamed, holding his eye.

Thystian's armor blocked most of the shots, sparking slightly when some hit, while other projectiles were deflected and shattered by swings of his mallet. "Hey Tocsin, remember that one healer we saw back at the Barracks that had those branches of healing energy?!" Goldy exclaimed.

Tocsin nodded and replied, "I do! Deetria, Goldy and I saw what I now think was a Kaninean person with a troop of Nebula soldiers back in the Barracks. It was releasing branches of holy energy into the soldiers. Do you remember that?"

Deetria nodded quickly, and began to build energy. Rising a bit into the air, she proceeded to release from her tail feathers long, partially transparent flows of holy energy that looked gaseous. From each tail feather a branch flowed forth, one reaching into Tocsin, one into Goldy, and one back to Thystian. The move quickly restored Thystian's damage, and cleared away Tocsin's and Goldy's injuries. Deetria focused, eyes closed, and hummed steadily to herself, keeping these flows reaching into her dear friends.

The Gemflower Hela tilted its head, before receding into the grass, and the three men grouped together to watch as the grass wiggled and waved about crazily while the beast ran along. "Not much for camouflaging itself, is it?" Goldy commented.

"Those things are just a tad on the crazy side... They're a real problem for our worker crew. I look forward to killing this thing. It's a threat to us all," Thystian said, standing at the ready.

The creature suddenly stopped, stuck its head out, and began spraying super sharp gemstones at the group once again. Thystian held a defensive pose, and Goldy hid behind him. Tocsin shielded Deetria. Thystian's armor protected against the attack, and Tocsin took the hits for Deetria, who paid him back with immediate healing. She gazed at him, still humming.

Thystian moved to be ready, Goldy getting beside him, preparing to react. The Gemflower Hela suddenly hopped out of the grass, and spat forth another powdery ball. Thystian hopped to the side, but the shot was aimed at Goldy. He yelped, collapsed, and started to snore. "...So that's what that does..." Thystian said.

Goldy remained asleep, and Deetria attempted to wake him. The creature rushed forward quickly however, and snapped onto Goldy. The others yelped, then screamed when the creature tossed the dozing Goldy into the air, stepped forward, and let him fall into its mouth.

Deetria screamed, while Tocsin yelled Goldy's name, their eyes wide. Thystian practically roared, as he leapt into the air, and slammed his mallet on the creature's tail. With a higher-pitched shriek, the Gemflower Hela spat Goldy back up and out a short distance. He landed with a wet thud, awake, soaked in saliva, and curled up. "I... feel... violated..." Goldy shuddered.

Tocsin flew to check on Goldy, who had not taken any actual damage from the attack. Thystian, meanwhile, began to twirl his mallet around, then tossed it up into the air over the creature. With a yell, Thystian leapt up to grab the mallet again, and brought it down with incredible force onto the creature's back. Shattering sounds echoed, and the creature roared in pain. Many of the flowers on its back broke apart, the gems shattering.

Deetria ended the healing flows now, sensing the creature was close to death. Goldy sat up, and quickly got to flicking and rubbing off the saliva that was all over him. Tocsin watched too. The creature weakly turned to snap at Thystian. Raising his mallet over his head, Thystian shouted in his native language, and the weapon turned solid purple. Before the creature could land its bite, Thystian slammed the mallet down with ground-shaking intensity on the creature's head. They heard a fatal crack from the creature's skull, and winced at the sound.

The creature slumped instantly, legs splayed out, and its tongue hung forth, pink blood oozing from its mouth. The remaining flowers on its body quickly wilted, and fell off the creature.

The many thorned roots blocking the many passages also wilted away, freeing everyone to continue onward.

~~05~~

The group gathered together, and Deetria cheered, hugging Thystian. She said, "Thank you so much! I remember having nightmares about that creature... Thank you so much for killing it and avenging the dragons its eaten."

Thystian, leaning on his mallet, panting, said, "No problem... Now give me a minute while I take a breather here."

He sat down. Everyone screamed and fell over when the creature suddenly blared one last roar, and went limp completely. They slowly moved to look at it. Goldy got up, walked over, and kicked it. "That's for eating me!" he shouted.

They lingered for a bit in the area, Thystian running a diagnostic on his suit. "Yeah, I'll take note of how that thing was killed. It'll be good to know for when we meet any others," Thystian said quietly.

"Oh I HOPE we don't run into any more!" Deetria squealed.

"I meant NeoSPGXA, actually," Thystian replied.

Deetria replied, "Oh," and looked at Tocsin. She caught him gazing at her again, and cooed at him, before nuzzling him. "You're always gazing at me, Tocsin," she said softly.

"It's... kinda hard to resist," he said quietly.

Deetria blushed, looking to the side, and Tocsin watched her. They glanced at Goldy, who was repeatedly kicking the dead beast in various areas as its corpse lay there. He kept kicking, until his foot started to hurt, and only then did he stop, limping over to sit near Thystian.

"Got any idea which way we should go Thystian?" Tocsin said, looking around at the imposing set of paths surrounding the group.

"Not a clue," Thystian said, looking around.

Before they could say anything more however, a strange female voice called out to them from a path, "Help! Someone please help!"

They looked, and could see approaching them a very large being. Goldy's eyes widened at the sight. The being had a female humanoid torso, growing out of the center of a giant flower. The being was huge too, which frightened Goldy and shocked Tocsin. Thystian and Deetria however were calm, and this helped keep Tocsin and Goldy calm. "A Pink Rose Bloomien..." Thystian whispered.

Deetria nodded, while the others kept silent.

The humanoid torso's skin color was a contrasting green color on the backdrop of pinks. The Bloomien's head was humanoid in appearance, with a large cluster of leaves growing on the head in the place of hair, down the back, like vines. The eyes resembled gems, a solid white color, like diamonds, and seemed to shimmer in the light. The nose, ears and mouth are all normal. The chest section of the humanoid half was normal, supple in appearance, curvy and smooth, with well developed breast formations, shielded from view by giant rose petals. The arms were longer than normal, lacked any sign of elbows, and the fingers were narrow and resembled vines, shifting to pink in color. The hands actually had around twelve "fingers" each. The humanoid half connected to the flower section around the hip area. The flower looked like nothing more than a giant, pink rose, though a simply huge cluster of pink, root-like tentacles protruded from the underside where a stem would normally be attached. The root-like tentacles were incredibly strong and free-moving, allowing for rapid movement across the ground.

Thystian slowly stood up as the giant flower woman approached, and leaned her flower portion forward to lower herself to Thystian's head height. The woman exclaimed, "Hero, please help!"

Thystian calmly responded, "Please calm down, and explain the situation."

The woman rose back up, and said, "That beast you just slew attacked my friend before coming here! She's badly injured. Please, she needs help!"

"Hold up. How do you know we just killed that thing?" Goldy asked.

"It lays there dead, and you all are standing here recovering. You ask strange questions little golden dragon," the woman replied, looking at Goldy curiously.

"Where is your friend?" Thystian asked, stopping the tangent.

"Please follow me!" the woman exclaimed.

She turned, and rushed down a path. Everyone followed, and Goldy exclaimed, "Man I hope we don't get lost because she's leading us off on a path!"

They followed anyway, and weaved through the rugged section of trail. There were small smatterings of blood on the ground that they passed by occasionally, and Deetria looked upset seeing them. Tocsin calmed her however, and soon the group could see a sharp bend in the turn ahead, with a wider section connected to it. Laying there in the section, was a second female Bloomien. Her humanoid section was extensively damaged, a whole arm and shoulder missing, and huge bite marks on her belly and back. She bled a yellow fluid.

The healthy Bloomien approached her friend quickly and said, "I have found heroes! Please help her, heroes!"

Thystian stepped up and looked at the injured, wheezing Bloomien woman. Tocsin and Goldy approached, and Goldy winced at the sight. "H... help..." the injured woman pleaded.

"I'll help!" Deetria squealed. She released a strong holy blast of energy into the woman.

The blast had no effect. Deetria, stunned, said, "...Wha?"

Thystian slowly shook his head as he said, "Like Puerosulans, Cactuartia, and any other plant-races, Bloomiens can't be healed with the Holy element. They have to receive healing by way of special plant-based energies."

"Nooo... I feel so useless!" Deetria squealed. Tocsin comforted her.

"Goldy, your Energy Seeds will do the trick in this situation," Thystian stated.

"...You're kidding..." Goldy said slowly.

Thystian slowly shook his head.

"...You're SERIOUS?!" Goldy exclaimed.

Thystian slowly nodded.

"Sweet, I get to do one last healing," Goldy said as he took off his Spilievern Pouch and held it out to the healthy Bloomien woman. "That pouch has some Energy Seeds in it. Use as many as you need," he stated.

The Bloomien woman smiled, and reached into the pouch with her many fingers. After a moment, she found and took out the packet of Energy Seeds. Opening it, she handed it to her friend, who devoured all of them. The group watched as the woman held still for a moment, grunted, and started groaning as her wounds on her belly and back closed, and her destroyed arm quickly began to regrow. She developed a big smile as this was happening. Everyone watched, Deetria became happy at the sight, and Goldy smiled.

He yelped when the woman reached out, wrapped her vine fingers all around him, pulled him up and kissed him on one side of his muzzle. "Thank you so much, cute little golden dragon!" she exclaimed.

Goldy, blushing replied, "Haaa well... it was nothing."

The other Bloomien was examining the Spilievern Pouch he had handed her, and she looked at Goldy. Grinning at the sight of the kiss, she asked, "Little golden dragon, this is a nice pouch. May I keep it?"

"Uhh... I guess so?" Goldy replied.

Tocsin narrowed an eye, and Thystian crossed his arms. The other Bloomien grabbed Goldy from her friend, and kissed him on the other side of his muzzle, increasing the intensity of his blush.

As soon as she set Goldy down, the two, without another word, rushed off into the brush, disappearing amongst the huge grasses. The wind blew through gently, and Goldy sat there, a look of complete befuddlement on his face. "...What just happened?" Goldy asked, looking around.

"I think you just got robbed..." Tocsin stated.

Deetria giggled, and Thystian chuckled.

"Maaan... That was a gift from Adelline!" Goldy exclaimed.

He then freaked at what he just said, and Deetria immediately started teasing him. Thystian busted out laughing, and Tocsin exclaimed, "I KNEW IT!"

Goldy dug a small hole in the ground and stuck his head in it.

~~06~~

The group had decided to keep following this path. More than once, they noticed that other paths converged into it. "Hmm... Guess a lot of those paths were decoys or something," Thystian mumbled.

The ambience remained pleasant, with a gentle breeze, only a couple of white clouds in the pink sky, and the calls of birds and animals echoed around them. The ground sloped downward hard, curving to the right, another hill directly ahead of them, impeding their view of the path ahead. Goldy rolled down this hill too and stopped at the bottom. When the others reached him, he said, "Well... I guess I'm back to square one equipment-wise. Now I really DON'T have anything to show for my trip other than memories."

"Actually Goldy..." Tocsin said, and Goldy looked at him. Tocsin continued, "You learned that Fireball move. Also, you'll have your paintings, and if they need more proof, I remember what every place we went to looked like, so I can show them maps of what happened. Heck, I bet if I focused, I could replay everything we did, or at least what I did, with you visible when I was around you, via my holographic displays!"

Goldy sat upright sharply, grinning, and replied, "That is awesome! I'm glad to hear that!"

He climbed to his feet as Thystian and Deetria passed, heading up the sharp hill. Tocsin and Goldy followed.

At the top, the path straightened out. They could clearly see the horizon ahead, but at the moment it was nothing but a Pink Haze. However, in the path ahead, off to the side, was a curious pink bush with white flowers strewn about on it. Deetria stopped upon seeing this bush, then zipped over to it. Tocsin quickly followed, while Thystian and Goldy kept their normal pace, observing.

Deetria, squealing, stuck her head in one of the flowers, and rubbed her head around in it. Tocsin drifted over, watching. She pulled her head back and looked at Tocsin, head covered in white pollen. Tocsin snickered at the sight.

Deetria suddenly sneezed, blowing off the pollen, which gathered on Tocsin. Deetria giggled. Tocsin shook himself to throw off the pollen. Thystian and Goldy stopped, watching this. Deetria cooed, "So cute... Tocsin, I remember when we did that back in Silviprim Meadow... Back when we became sweethearts..."

Tocsin replied softly, "I remember too, Deetria... I remember too."

Goldy smiled warmly at the sight, and looked at Thystian, who looked back, likely with the same expression hidden beneath his helmet. They jolted when Deetria suddenly squealed, "I REMEMBER where we are now! I know how to get to home from here!"

"...Great!" Tocsin exclaimed, "Let's go!"

With an unending squeal, Deetria zoomed off down the path, which sloped downward. Tocsin sped after her, and Thystian and Goldy ran quickly to keep up.

Goldy's eyes widened as, fading into view from within the Pink Haze in the distance, a megalithic tree, at least five hundred feet tall, branching out for possibly the same length, began to fade in, in the distant Pink Haze.

The group sped onward toward the end of their adventure.

END

Dragon Tails © Tim Dawson

Wenonah Galaxy © Adrian Smith


	15. 15: Pink & White Eternal

Roseus Elementeus

Chapter Fifteen – Pink & White Eternal

~~00~~

The end was within sight. The great, megalithic tree that was Deetria's home, nearly engulfed a third of the horizon before the group. Deetria, flying fast and squealing unendingly, flew along the trail, her eyes filled with tears of joy. Tocsin followed just as fast, but Deetria was quickly pulling away from Thystian and Goldy.

Thystian hopped on his Hoverboard, and Goldy jumped into the air to fly, and they began to catch up. "In hindsight, we should have probably done this in the first place!" Goldy exclaimed.

"We could have gone the wrong way, and we would have missed killing that deadly beast and saving that Bloomien if we had!" Thystian called back.

Goldy fell silent, realizing that much was true. He already missed the Spilievern Pouch the one Bloomien had made off with, but it was too late now. The end was in sight, as the group sped along the trail.

They blew past several forks in the grassland passageway, Deetria, knowing which way to go, turned hard in them. It didn't matter much anymore anyway. They could see the great tree ahead of them.

They neared the end, and with a rush of wind, the group exited out of the trail, and into an enormous clearing. More enormous than the tree itself. Tocsin halted suddenly, staring up at the megalithic tree, eyes wide. Thystian and Goldy stopped too, Goldy with the same awestruck expression. "Whoa... It's... it's huge... It's... gargantuan... It's... sw-"

"Say it and I'll hit you over the head with my mallet," Thystian jokingly threatened. Goldy just stood silent, gazing.

"What are we looking at, Thystian?" Tocsin asked, still looking.

"My friends, you're looking at two things: The Palatial Tree..." Thystian half replied.

"...'palatial'?" Tocsin repeated, quietly.

"And the other?" Goldy asked.

"The end of our journey," Thystian quietly replied.

The two slowly nodded, and they watched as Deetria moved forward a bit further than them, then stopped too. They moved slowly to catch up to her, but still stood a short distance back.

Deetria inhaled, then squealed loudly in an unknown language at the tree. Tocsin and Goldy noticed that it was in an incredibly high pitch, and Thystian could only hear it thanks to his suit's systems detecting it.

Everyone stood silent now, and waited. Within a few seconds, the tree's pink foliage seemed to move, and the group heard hundreds of additional squeals emitting from the tree. Goldy yelped, Tocsin's eyes widened more, and Thystian, now standing on the ground, crossed his arms. They saw a seething mass of pink begin to flow from the tree and down toward them. "Is that thing alive?!" Goldy exclaimed.

"No, Goldy... Those are Dimension Dragons... The same species as Deetria," Thystian stated.

"There's HUNDREDS of 'em!" Goldy exclaimed.

Within moments, Deetria was engulfed by a multitude of pink Dimension Dragons, most of them ranging in size from much smaller than her to only a few inches larger. Goldy could barely pick out the differences in the tones of their voices, realizing there were males and females all together in the huge mass. Tocsin himself noted that they all somehow had physical differences about them, from the minute to substantial.

Squealing, cheering, and yelling roared from the crowd, all voices filled with joy. Squealing and yelling voices exclaimed Deetria's name, and shouted about her having returned at last. Thystian, Goldy and Tocsin could barely make out Deetria's own voice as she squealed replies. The swarms of Dimension Dragons, especially the females, had quickly taken notice of Deetria's physical differences, with the feather on her forehead and her tail feathers. It was clear they were inquiring about them, but Deetria's response was the same: that she'd tell them all about it after she saw her father, or as she referred to him as, "daddy".

One dragon amongst the group, a small female, squealed, "THYSTIAN! ...AND FRIENDS!"

Goldy flinched slightly when hundreds of heads turned to look at them, and yelped when a good portion of the swarm of Dimension Dragons seethed toward the group, surrounding them and investigating them. Goldy, looked all over by the dragons, held very still, slowly looking around. Thystian laughed at the attention he received, and said, "Yes yes, you all have seen me before. Nothing new here my friends."

A male replied, "I could SWEAR you looked tougher, even with your armor on!"

Thystian laughed. Tocsin, however, was receiving more than his fair share of attention. Many of the dragons squealed or yelled, "Albino! Albino!" and "He's so pretty!"

Tocsin, like Goldy, slowly looked around at the attention. Several of the females had enamored looks upon seeing him, one even nudging him slightly. He flinched, and Deetria giggled. She swooped in, getting close to him, and nuzzled him. The other females backed off on sight, and the crowd suddenly began to clamor louder amongst each other. Tocsin was now the center of attention. He looked around, confused, as they clamored excitedly. He could not make out what they were saying, as much as he tried, though their reaction suggested to him that this was some kind of sign Deetria's species use to signify having chosen someone. He suddenly remembered that Deetria nuzzled him right when she first met him, and he gazed at her, wondering if, right from the start, she wanted to be his.

Thystian and Goldy backed up just a bit, Goldy snickering. "Excitable, aren't they?" Goldy asked quietly.

"Well, Deetria has just returned, and in a moment, you'll see why they're so excited," Thystian replied, looking ahead.

Goldy blinked when a male dragon suddenly shouted, "Make way for the King! King Reliccan!"

~~01~~

The Dimension Dragons immediately formed a large circle around the entire group, and there, floating toward them, was a very large Dimension Dragon.

Goldy's and Tocsin's eyes widened at the sight of the large being. Large compared to Deetria at least. Small by dragon standards, he was around five feet long from head to tail. This rendered him bigger than all the rest of the Dimension Dragons present however. His eyes were a deep, deep green. He had green energy draping from his chin, highly resembling a long beard. He bore on his head three sharp horns, one pointing back, and the other two pointing off to the side back, curving slightly. His body had spines all along his back all the way to near the tip of his tail.

Thystian bowed immediately upon seeing him, and he nodded at Thystian. Deetria squealed, "DADDY!!" and zoomed up, glomping his belly area. The great Dimension Dragon, with a very kind expression on his face, wrapped his two lower wings around Deetria, and held her close.

Goldy developed an incredibly shocked look, and he and Tocsin immediately exclaimed, "'DADDY'?!" They looked at Thystian and Tocsin said, "WHY did you not tell us Deetria was a princess?!"

Thystian, clearly with a grin on his face from the way his voice sounded, replied, "You never asked..."

Goldy facepalmed, and Tocsin just swung his head back to look at the scene. Reliccan gently released Deetria back to the air, and she squealed, "Daddy! Please! Come meet my friends!"

He slowly nodded, and followed Deetria, much slower than her, as she swooped over to the group. She hovered over Thystian, and said, "You've already met Thystian. Hee hee."

Reliccan finally spoke, in an aged voice that carried a mysterious echoing tone, likely produced by his level of power, "Well met, noble General of NeoSPGXA."

"Well met, noble king of the Shikoian Dimension Dragons," Thystian responded.

Deetria hovered over Goldy, who felt very intimidated by this ancient dragon, the gaze of his powerful green eyes feeling as sharp as swords. Yet at the same time, Goldy sensed a great nobility in this grand dragon king, and was eased by this. Deetria squealed, "This is Goldy! He's a very good friend and a really funny guy! He's from Earth!"

"H... Hi..." Goldy said timidly.

Reliccan's expression softened at Goldy's nervous greeting, and replied, "Magnificent hide color. Goldy, as a golden dragon, you will be powerful in the future."

Goldy rubbed the back of his head. Deetria moved to hover beside Tocsin, and said, a little more calmly, "And this, is Tocsin. He's a great hero, who has saved me so many times I can't remember them all. He's from Earth too."

Before anything else was said, Deetria moved her head, and nuzzled Tocsin. He didn't react until he saw the king slowly lift his head just slightly, as a glint crossed over his eyes. His face moved as if a smile had formed. Tocsin blinked at seeing this. Thystian and Goldy looked at each other, and kept quiet for now.

"Tocsin... I see..." the king responded. Tocsin just kept silent, not sure what to make of the reaction.

Reliccan spoke, "Deetria, a moment of your time. Please tell me, is this albino Dimension Dragon the source of your physical changes, and the appearance of your elemental powers?"

Deetria hovered next to Tocsin, and nodded happily. She said, "Yeah! He gave me two gifts during our adventure! A Pearl Heart, which gave me my Light powers, and a Rose of Seven Stars, which gave me my Holy powers! Aren't my feathers pretty?"

"My dear daughter, your beauty has been magnified exponentially by these glorious additions," Deetria's father replied.

She blushed, and Tocsin nodded approvingly, glad the king felt that way about it. The king said further, "Tocsin, I wish to speak with you personally. Shall you engage me?"

"Fight?! Are you nuts?" Tocsin reacted.

Goldy facepalmed, Thystian laughed, and the king chuckled as he replied, "Engage me in a conversation, small white one."

"...Oh... Yeah, sorry, you're... a little intimidating," Tocsin said.

Goldy re-facepalmed. The king chuckled again, and rose into the air above the others. Tocsin followed, drawing a little closer to speak to the great ancient Dimension Dragon.

The other dragons quickly gathered around the others below, some watching Reliccan and Tocsin as they spoke.

Reliccan began, "Young Tocsin, I sense that you are in fact not a true living being, but rather a golem-like entity that exists entirely through technological means."

Tocsin fell quiet at this, but the king continued, "Yet, I sense that you have a heart. You have emotions. You have love, hate, joy, rage. You are what humans would call a 'bio-android', of the most advanced form in existence. Tocsin, this does not negatively influence my viewpoint of you. It is clear that you and Deetria are to be one. Before I can speak further on this, I wish to know about these heroics Deetria spoke of between you two, if you feel willing."

Tocsin nodded, and spoke, "I'll tell you. Goldy and I are, as Deetria stated, from Earth. We were warped to this Galaxy by accident. We ended up on Mara Seven, where we met Deetria in an Insectid Barracks, captured by them. We freed her, and with Thystian's help, once we found him, we escaped the place. That's how we met. As far as 'heroics' go... well, as soon as I met your daughter I felt strongly drawn to her. She is indeed a beautiful offspring, and I congratulate you on such an accomplishment."

Reliccan was pleased with Tocsin's choice of words, and replied, "She is my firstborn. Heir to the throne. She is due to take the place of Grand Princess soon. She wanted to go on a journey before she took this position, to learn what she could before settling in. I am glad you brought her back, as her time was running out for being away."

Tocsin was silent, and the king noticed a darkness form in Tocsin's eyes. Reliccan spoke, "What troubles you, Tocsin?"

Tocsin shook his head and said, "Nothing. Anyway, as far as heroics goes, I pretty much lost it whenever she got attacked and lashed out at anyone that attacked her early on. I got a little more control as we went along. On Coll, and with the help of the others, I acquired that Pearl Heart and gave it to her. Later on, she and I worked together to win a sport game of some sort with a group of Trochairies to get information on our destination. I have to admit, she helped me too at times. When we reached Domargomka'Irysme, she shielded me from the rain there, as I'm very weak against water... We made our way to the Pit of Voids, and she ended up captured by a squid creature. ...I don't remember much during that time... But I do recall killing the thing and saving her... On Gravairna, I met a PhilaPhila and won her challenge to acquire that Rose of Seven Stars, which I gave Deetria. She helped ME again on FroreAqueaous with dealing with the great cold there by sharing body warmth. I protected and supported her when we ended up in a refinery overrun by Malophiicets... On Indes, we ran into some Red Ones... I think that was the closest we ever were to losing her for good, but I managed to stop them before they were able to take her mind away. Hmm... I'd like to think that, as we've worked together, I've helped her learn courage and toughen herself up a little bit. I mean you no offense, but she was quite the crybaby early on..."

Tocsin was surprised when the king laughed softly at this. "Your description of Deetria is very accurate, young Tocsin. I take no offense," Reliccan responded.

"Now that I think about it, I guess I can't think of all of the things Deetria said I did for her," Tocsin admitted softly.

The king, nevertheless, clearly had an impressed look on his face. He said, "It does not matter. You have clearly done much just from those few things. For all that, Tocsin, I thank you, for caring for and supporting my beloved daughter."

Tocsin nodded slowly, thoughts distracted. The king noticed.

During this conversation, Deetria had started to chatter with her friends, giving them a very rose-tinted version of their adventure, glorifying her friends and exaggerating the monsters they faced. This all, perhaps, because it may have been how she perceived things. She would describe how Thystian would crush a thousand Insectids with a single blow. She would describe how Goldy would fly about, roaring and blazing devastating flames, destroying entire Noxiun ships. She would describe how Tocsin valiantly blocked every enemy's attempt to harm her and retaliated with incredible force. The crowd was clearing buying it, amazed.

Goldy watched this unfold, and heaved a sigh. Thystian chuckled lightly, and said softly, "A child's viewpoint, I'd say."

Goldy chuckled a little, then noticed as Thystian's hand moved to his helmet. He quieted as he watched, and Thystian turned, walking back some distance away from the clamor.

"General Thystian, do you read? This is Savanna. Over," Savanna's voice crackled over his line.

"Thystian here. What is the word, Savanna? Over," Thystian replied.

Savanna replied, "We have detected your presence at the Palatial Tree. We are on route to pick you up. Over."

Thystian reacted, "Negative, Savanna. Negative. We are not ready. Slow your progress. A serious moment is about to unfold here that must be cleared before we will be ready. I will transmit when it is time. Over."

Savanna responded, an annoyed tone, "Thystian, we must return to orbit soon. We are on route to pick you up. We will give you as much time as we can, but you'd better hurry it up over there. Over."

Thystian stated, "It's kinda out of my hands... Over."

Savanna said, "Just do what you can. We'll monitor your situation. Over."

Thystian responded, "Confirmed... Over."

Savanna finished, "Confirmed. Over and out."

Thystian slowly looked at the crowd, and walked over to them. He looked at Goldy, and slowly nodded. Goldy turned, now filled with worry and nervousness. "Deetria!" Thystian called.

All eyes were on him. He gestured for her to approach. She did so, a couple of others moving a little closer themselves. Goldy watched, and could feel his heart beating a little harder.

"Deetria..." Thystian said.

Deetria replied, happily, "Yes Thystian?"

Thystian said, slowly, "The Mega SPGXA Mothership is on route... to pick me up, as well as Tocsin and Goldy, to take them home."

Deetria fell silent.

~~02~~

Deetria shivered slightly, and said, fear in her voice, "Haha... Funny, Thystian..."

Thystian was silent. Deetria slowly whispered, "...Tocsin.... I..."

"I knew this was coming... I knew it... I freakin' KNEW IT... You can't go home with us, can you Deetria?" Goldy said.

Deetria did not respond, but a male did, "She's heir to the throne of Grand Princess. She can't leave again! She has royal duties! It's a tradition that cannot be broken under any circumstances!"

Goldy facepalmed, a fist clutched and shaking, and exclaimed, "Laaame!"

Thystian turned his side to the group, silent, head aimed away. Deetria's eyes began to well with tears. She looked up at Tocsin. The others noticed, and a low clamor began to develop. The joy of the situation had immediately been washed away.

"TOCSIN!!!" Deetria squealed with a bereft tone.

Tocsin, and Reliccan, looked down at Deetria immediately. Tocsin looked up at the king, and said, "...King Reliccan, something very serious has come up..."

The king fell completely silent, and watched as Deetria swooped up to Tocsin, and squealed, eyes flowing with tears again, "Tocsin! What! You... I! ..." She started to cry, and Tocsin nodded at the king.

The king, his eyes narrowed, nodded back slowly. Tocsin and Deetria quickly moved away from the group. Many of the dragons, mostly females, moved to follow, until the king, who was descending, shouted at them to stop. They immediately complied. Reliccan moved to Thystian and Goldy and said, "Please explain..."

"A conflict of interest has arisen..." Thystian said.

The king fell silent as Thystian, who remained looking away, continued, "My ship will be here soon, to pick me up. I promised Goldy and Tocsin that my boss would send them home at the end of my mission. At the time, I had no idea that this was going to end up happening. But Tocsin and Goldy's time in the Wenonah Galaxy has reached its end. They'll soon be going back... Tocsin, back to his home... And Deetria... cannot follow."

The king developed a very aggravated expression, as he looked at the two little ones and said, "A conflict of interest indeed... Only they can decide what shall happen next..."

Goldy, still upset, was now watching the two little ones, who were quite some distance from the rest.

Tocsin and Deetria hovered a great distance from the others, well out of earshot. The wind gently blew through, as the two hovered, gazing into each other's eyes, Deetria's filled with tears. She whispered, "Tocsin..."

Tocsin returned, "Deetria..."

"I... I... What's happening? Why is this happening? Can't you stay? I want to be with you Tocsin! Where are you going?!"

"I have to go home... I have to go back home to my friends on Earth. But Deetria, I realized this back on Indes. I knew this time was going to come. At first I thought nothing of it. I thought that maybe there'd be a little conflict of some sort or something, but... Not of this scale... You have royal duties, Deetria."

Deetria drew closer to Tocsin.

"Tocsin, no... I don't want you to leave me!"

"And I do NOT want to leave you, Deetria... But... Deetria... ...What do you REALLY want?"

"I want to be with you! ... But... I want to be with my friends and family too... Tocsin..."

"I want to be with you too, Deetria, but... Could I really just abandon my friends? ...Ohh... Now that I think about it... For this, for you, I would."

"No Tocsin! No... I don't want you to sacrifice anything! Tocsin... No..."

Deetria struggled to contain her tears. The two fell silent in a gaze for a moment. She eventually asked, "Tocsin... Please tell me what you think of me... Please."

Tocsin's eyes narrowed as he replied in absolute seriousness, "I couldn't possibly encounter a sweeter, more beautiful dragon in the rest of my existence... In all honesty, it was you and your beauty that kept me going this whole time. I felt a drive to protect you well up within me when we first met. And, I guess I made a sort of dedication to it."

Deetria gently nuzzled Tocsin, some of her tears ending up on his face. Oddly, they did not steam off, but rather seemed to gather under his own eyes. Deetria said, "You Tocsin, have your own unique beauty. You are so warm... Both in mind and body. And I love that warmth. And the way you light up the darkness around you. You're untouchable by darkness. Don't ever let your lights dim. Please..."

Tocsin nodded to her, hearing this. They gazed for a few more seconds, and a darkness was beginning form in the distance. A black darkness. "Tocsin..." Deetria whispered, her tears flowing still.

"We have come to this... Deetria... We must sacrifice something... You have your royal duties, and your friends, and family. I... well I just have friends. I have much less to lose. Deetria, I've made up my mind. I will stay with you here."

Tocsin entwined his neck around hers, and they locked eyes. Deetria, squealing, replied, "No Tocsin! You can't! No... Please... Look. Look at Goldy over there... Look at him..."

Tocsin turned his head, and they both could see Goldy watching, completely unmoving, his mouth slightly opened. He appeared to shiver when they looked at him. They could see a faint hint of tear in his eye.

"I'm begging you Tocsin... Please don't leave your friends..."

"Those dragons are crazy. I'd give it all up to be with you, Deetria."

"Tocsin... You can't... You... we both... We both have friends we can't just abandon. I... I want so much to be with you, but... Tocsin... There has got to be another way! Don't leave your friends! Please, Tocsin... I'm begging you..."

"What about you, Deetria?"

"Tocsin... ...You want what's best for me, right?"

Tocsin immediately replied, "I do, Deetria. I want you to be safe, and to grow into a beautiful Dimension Dragon. And I will stay with you during it."

"Tocsin, no. I, too, want what's best for you. Tocsin, I want you to go home with Goldy, to your friends on Earth."

The darkness in the distance was growing. Tocsin fell silent. Deetria held close, wrapping all three of her tail feathers around Tocsin, her tail entwined around his now, the two as one. Tocsin slowly resumed, "It's another test... Deetria. A test of time, and separation. We want what's best for each other. And it would seem... that at this time, what's best, is for us to now pull apart."

Deetria, eyes not flowing with tears as much anymore, responded, "Tocsin, we will get through this..."

"In order to do so, Deetria, we shall seal this separation with a promise. A promise like that between Thystian and Zessta."

"A promise..."

"Let's promise, Deetria, that if ANY opportunity, whatsoever, arises, we will take it, to meet again. If I have to threaten Bluey with my flames to build me a portal machine that actually WORKS, I will."

"...And if I can find some way to get out of these royal responsibilities, I'll come find you as fast as I can."

Tocsin and Deetria's gaze locked deeply, the darkness drawing near in the distance. He, then she, said, "I promise."

"I promise."

"We promise."

"WE promise."

Their gazes locked, the two pulled together into a full wrap, and entered a deep, powerful kiss. Their powers flared during this sealing of promise, and they released a powerful light that shone forth.

Everyone immediately looked at the pair. Reliccan announced, "...Behold, my brethren, the bonding of two to one, in the power of love."

The dragons began to clamor and cheer. Goldy, however, began to weep. Thystian looked on, then at Goldy, and said, "...This isn't a wedding, Goldy."

Goldy, struggling to keep himself controlled, responded, "I just know Tocsin's gonna stay here... I knew this was gonna happen..."

"You should consider the fact that I think he DOES consider you a friend, Goldy," Thystian said, laying a hand on Goldy's shoulder.

"They LOOKED at me... I saw them do it!" Goldy exclaimed.

"That tells me that she was convincing him to go home with you," Thystian stated.

"But... what about her?" Goldy asked.

"Tocsin's smart. He knows what the right course of action would be to take. They're both smart, even if Deetria's silly. Just have faith, Goldy. Faith in friendship," Thystian replied.

Goldy, a tear-filled eye narrowed, responded, "You're turning this into some kind of cheap Pokémon movie..."

Thystian sighed.

The kiss, and powerful light, soon ended. The darkness was nearly upon everyone, and a deep rumble was beginning to fill the air. Tocsin and Deetria gazed deeply into each other's eyes. Deetria slowly moved her head beside Tocsin, and whispered to him. She looked back into his eyes, and the two gently rested each other's faces together, eyes locked.

~~03~~

The darkness was upon them. The entire area went dark, the light of the Mynurvah star blotted out from above. A low rumble and many deep energy tones filled the air. Everyone looked up, and could see a ship overhead. The ship was miles long, easily the size of two or three cities together. It dwarfed even the great Palatial Tree. It was shaped like a disc, with many lights, cannons, hangar bays and a gigantic green-glowing energy orb of some sort in its center, pulsing steadily. Many things moved on its underside, and swarms of small star fighters flew about all around it. The glint of a huge energy barrier shifted by, surrounding it.

Many of the Dimension Dragons started screaming, and fled to the Palatial Tree. Goldy, eyes, and mouth, wide open, looked straight up at it, and became so amazed he slowly flopped onto his back at the sight.

Tocsin and Deetria looked up at it, then at each other again. They separated, partially, their tails still wrapped together, and drifted back to the group.

Goldy quickly scrambled to his feet, and everyone watched closely as the two approached.

Thystian, pointing up, stated, "THAT... Is my ride. The time to leave, is now."

Goldy was dead silent, overwhelmed by awe. But then, he shook his head, and looked at Tocsin and Deetria. His expression became worried again, as they arrived to the group, all eyes on them.

Reliccan stated solemnly, "If I could change the conditions of this situation, I most definitely would. At this time, there is nothing I can do. Tocsin, Deetria, what is your decision?"

Tocsin and Deetria gazed at each other, and nuzzled one more time, gently and slowly. They then began to separate, reluctantly. Their tails did not agree with their decision, as they had to pull them separate, slowly. Their tails seemed to reach for each other as the two moved to position themselves accordingly. Tocsin hovered over Goldy, and Deetria settled beside and partially in front of her father.

"We have decided, daddy, to separate. We've sealed our separation with a promise to see each other again," Deetria stated.

Goldy, dumbfounded, looked at Tocsin and exclaimed, "Y... You're coming back with me?!"

Tocsin replied, "I am, Goldy. Deetria and I want what's best for each other, and at this time, neither of us believes we should sacrifice our friendships and duties. We'll return to each other when the time is right. ...ACK!"

Goldy had grabbed Tocsin, and hugged him. "Oh Tocsin, I didn't know you cared so much, buddy! Thank you! Thank you!"

Tocsin squirmed, and Reliccan chuckled lightly. Thystian spoke, quietly, "Reliccan, until next time."

Reliccan responded, "Until next time, noble General Thystian."

Thystian looked at Deetria and said, "Deetria, take care of yourself."

"Bye bye Thystian. See you next time. Thank you so much for the adventure. I learned, and gained, so much..." Deetria said softly, looking at Tocsin, who had escaped Goldy's grip and whipped him in the face with his tail.

Goldy, after recovering from the hit, said, "Deetria, it was fun. I hope to see you again soon."

"Me too Goldy. Say hello to all your brothers for me, okay?" she responded.

"Okay," Goldy simply replied. He nodded at Reliccan, who nodded back, slowly.

Tocsin spoke, "Deetria... Good bye... ...See you soon."

Deetria responded, "See you soon, Tocsin... Bye bye..."

She gently waved her tail at him, and he returned the gesture with his own.

Reliccan spoke, "Thystian, Goldy, Tocsin, I am forever grateful to you for rescuing, protecting, and taking care of my beloved daughter Deetria. For that, I offer you a blessing to your safe journey home, and for a successful life. Good bye, and farewell."

"Thank you, king Reliccan," Thystian said, nodding.

"Thank you, sire," Goldy responded nervously.

"Thank you, king Reliccan..." Tocsin quietly said.

Thystian held a hand to his helmet, and stated, "Thystian to Mega SPGXA Mothership. Three to beam up. Over."

Three beams of green light shone down upon Thystian, Tocsin and Goldy. Tocsin and Deetria locked eyes once more, and tears began to form in Deetria's eyes again. "Tocsin..." she whispered.

"Deetria..." Tocsin whispered back.

His, Thystian's, and Goldy's forms, suddenly converted to green energy, and zipped up the columns of green light, to the ship above. Shortly, the columns faded away. With a steady droning sound, the Mega SPGXA Mothership began to rise, and rise, and nearly instantly disappeared into the atmosphere above.

The remaining dragons, Deetria, and Reliccan, watched as this happened. Once the light had returned, Reliccan and Deetria looked at each other. He spoke softly, "What will you do now, my beloved daughter?"

Deetria sniffled, and said, "I... need some time alone. Is that ok, daddy?"

"Of course, my daughter," Reliccan replied.

Deetria turned, and drifted off to the edge of the huge clearing. She rose above the great grass that grew all around, and stared off to the pink haze-engulfed horizon. There, she saw a cloud, and within it, she began to imagine Tocsin's face. "Tocsin... Come back soon..." she whispered, before she could no longer keep control of herself.

Reliccan hovered, watching his daughter weep, and narrowed his eyes. "Sire?" a male dragon spoke, quietly.

Reliccan turned to head back to the tree, and as he did, he said, "I will do everything in my power, to reunite those two... Love should not be separated by anything. Not even traditions or duties..."

The male dragon was silent, and followed the king back toward the Palatial Tree.

~~04~~

The chamber was simplistically designed with black metal walls, floor and ceiling, and with green energy lines running through it. The ambience was that of a deep, imposing drone, with other energy sources pulsing. Terminals on the walls, as well as at a console, beeped in various ways continuously. At a console stood a soldier dressed in body-shrouding armor.

But also standing there, was an attractive, well developed, though strange-looking woman. She stood at five feet, eleven inches. She was tall and slim, fit, and attractively formed. Many scars were on her face, shoulders, stomach and upper legs. She had deep green eyes, and long green hair, to her mid-back. Her hair covered where her ears would be, though she actually lacked any human ears. She had a pair of wasp-like antennae coming from the front of her head, bent forward at joints. She had a large, green, insect carapace on her back. Her carapace was scraped and dented. Her skin color was deeply tanned. On her arms, were very large, green, spiked mantis claws. Within them however were human hands. She wore a black headband, with the loose ends hanging on the left side of her head. On her chest, was a black covering that looked like bulletproof body armor, with the back removed. It was strapped around her neck, and lower back. Only her chest was covered, her stomach exposed. She had a pair of black, tight, leather short shorts, and black, tight leather boots, with deep green straps. The boots reached to her knees. Her pants had a deep red belt, with numerous pouches, and two gun hilts, carrying high-tech handguns. On the left side of her chest covering was a pocket bulging with some content, likely a weapon. On each boot, she had a strap that support a dagger.

Multiple teleport pads were at the opposite end of the room from them. Three of the pads lit up, and green columns of energy shone up. Three green energy forms zipped up, and materialized into Thystian, Tocsin and Goldy. Tocsin and Goldy looked around, and Goldy flinched at the sight of the grinning woman. Tocsin noticed the drones, but kept silent, without much reaction.

The woman spoke, enthusiastically, "Thystian! Excellent! It's good to see you made it through unscathed! We were starting to get worried when we lost contact with you days ago on Mara Seven."

Thystian stepped off the teleport platform, and Goldy and Tocsin followed. Thystian replied, "'We' as in the crew, or just you, Savanna..?"

"Well you know what the heck I mean. I look forward to the debriefing! Considering what you said in those transmissions, I get the feeling we're gonna get an epic one," Savanna replied.

"That you will... That you will. Savanna, these are two of my teammates that helped me. Goldy, and Tocsin," Thystian said.

She approached, and bent over a little to look Goldy in the eyes. He pulled back a bit, looking more at her antennae, which moved slightly on occasion. She grinned again, and said, "You come up with the funniest of friends. WELL!"

Her shout startled Goldy, and she laughed. Tocsin watched, silent. Savanna continued, "Welcome Goldy, and Tocsin, to the Mega SPGXA Mothership. The mobile home base for NeoSPGXA! I must say, if you really did stick with Thystian through his whole mission, I'm quite impressed! And I thank you for that too."

Goldy nodded, and responded, "Yeah, we're always up for an adventure. This would be our first we've had of our own, so it was quite the experience."

Tocsin nodded slowly. Savanna, laughing, said, "Ahh that's funny. Adventurers! I can see where you're coming from. We're all about adventure too. Good to hear! Thanks again."

Thystian spoke, "Savanna, Goldy and Tocsin here were accidentally thrust into the Wenonah Galaxy from Earth, by an experiment gone wrong. When I first met them, I told them we could provide them with a means to get home. Anticipating YOUR nature, I told them we only could after they helped with my mission. So, as a personal request, I would like to ask that you fulfill this promise, with our Long Range Warp Engine."

Savanna, arms akimbo, and grinning replied, "You've already gotten to know your captain that well eh? Heh heh. Smart. Yeah, I'll do that. Anyone who's willing to help get our missions accomplished deserves a favor like that. Come with me, boys."

She turned, and began to strut out of the Teleport Station. Thystian, Goldy and Tocsin followed. Goldy noticed her unusually feminine walk, and arched an eye ridge.

As they walked, Goldy and Tocsin kept silent, and Savanna chatted with a less than responsive Thystian about what he may have done while out there. The corridor was long, and curved slightly, constantly, to the left.

Savanna eventually asked, "Do you know exactly where these little cuties are from?"

Goldy flinched at the remark. Savanna was clearly a very flirty type, especially considering the way she was dressed. Thystian replied, "When we first met, I was able to get the coordinates to their home off of terrestrial data that remained on them after their teleport. I kept that in a priority file, so I have it ready to go."

"That's you, Thystian, always thinking ahead. Heh..." Savanna responded.

Eventually they reached a more distinct door from the rest they had passed, and Savanna approached it. It opened automatically, and the group stepped in. This chamber had a huge portal-generating arch system on a ramp, and a huge machine sat quietly in the back. There was an observation deck in the wall at the opposite end of the chamber.

Goldy looked at the machine, and said, "Man, Bluey's design wasn't actually all that far off, though if in miniature by comparison."

Savanna chuckled lightly, as they stepped in fully and the door shut. They gathered before the ramp, and Savanna faced the two. She said, "On behalf of NeoSPGXA, I'd like to thank you two once more for aiding one of our Generals in his mission. Sending you home is the least we can do as payment."

"Think nothing of it," Goldy responded.

Savanna, smirking, replied, "Alright then. Are you two ready to go home?"

"We are," Goldy acknowledged.

Tocsin nodded, and Savanna looked at him. Grinning, she asked, "Does your pet talk?"

Tocsin replied, "I am not his pet, and yes, I am... ready to go home too."

"You are too my pet..." Goldy retorted.

"No I am not..." Tocsin responded.

"Yes you are," Goldy countered.

"Shut up," Tocsin said, his voice lower than normal, a solemn, maybe bedarkened tone.

Savanna laughed at this scene, completely oblivious to Tocsin's solemn emotion. Goldy noticed however, and sighed slightly. Savanna looked at Thystian.

Thystian linked his suit's system to the main control computer of the warp engine, and uploaded the coordinates. The system began to power up. In a beautiful display of efficient system operation, the arch released several beams from its arms into its center space, and a large dome-shaped portal opened, generating a pulsing tone and a rushing of air.

Goldy and Tocsin moved to stand at the bottom of the ramp, and Savanna stood before them. Thystian stepped up to the two, and knelt to be eye-level with them. He spoke, "Goldy. Tocsin. My friends, and teammates. I want to thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for all the help you provided. We saw good times and bad, and made sacrifices and suffered pain, but in the end, we came out victorious. Thank you, my dear friends, for the help, and friendship, you provided. It was excellent working with you. I will miss you both greatly."

Goldy spoke, "Thystian, if it wasn't for you, we'd probably still be back on Mara Seven, at the mercy of the Insectids. You're a great leader, a great man, and a great friend that I'm honored to have made. I will tell everyone about you when we get home. I'll even paint a portrait of you. I can't guarantee perfection, since I'll just have my memory to go by, but... Yeah. Thanks Thystian. Thanks a lot. I'll miss you a lot too. ...Oh... and..." He rubbed the back of his head as he added, "Say good bye to Adelline for me, would you?"

Thystian nodded with a chuckle. He hugged Goldy, who returned the hug. Savanna smirked at the sight. Thystian held out a hand to Tocsin, who landed on it. "...Tocsin, what you must be going through right now is tremendous... Are you having second thoughts?"

"...No, Thystian. Deetria and I made a promise. We must grant each other's wishes for now," Tocsin replied.

Savanna arched an eye ridge, and said, "...'Deetria'? ...Who's Deetria? Did we forget someone?"

She was ignored as Thystian continued, "I'll keep a tap on Deetria's family, and if I ever learn that she has decided she wants to get back to you, I will make it my personal goal to bring you two back together again."

Tocsin nodded slowly, and said, "Thank you very much Thystian... I'll get through it, somehow. I'd pretty much be repeating everything Goldy said, but yeah, it was excellent working with you too. May we cross paths again soon."

Thystian and Tocsin nodded. Thystian stood up, releasing Tocsin, who looked at Goldy. The two nodded, then flinched when Savanna shouted with surprising force, "WHO THE HECK IS DEETRIA?!"

Thystian sighed, looked at Savanna, and said, "Deetria had to stay behind due to uncontrollable circumstances. You'll learn all about it in the debriefing."

"Oh, well, why didn't someone say so?" Savanna said, arms crossed under her chest, tapping a foot.

Thystian looked back at Goldy and Tocsin, and they nodded at each other. Turning, they went up the ramp, but stopped just short of passing through the portal. They looked back at Thystian and Savanna.

Thystian suddenly stood straight, formally, and proceeded to salute the two with an unusual and complicated gesture. Goldy attempted to return the gesture, but ended up fumbling through it. In the end, he just resorted to a simple wave.

Tocsin waved a wing at Thystian, slowly, solemnly. Savanna waved by leaning her head forward slightly and wiggling her fingers at them, smirking.

A moment of silence passed, and Goldy and Tocsin looked at each other. With a nod, they turned. Goldy took a couple steps back, rushed forward and jumped into the portal, disappearing. Tocsin swooped in at the same time. The portal hummed steadily, calmly. Its energy drones faded, and the portal quietly closed. The system's engine slowly calmed to a stop, the deep drones and pulses of the enormous ship taking over the ambience again.

Thystian turned to face Savanna. She grinned, and said, "Well Thystian, your long trip's over. I'm VERY eager to hear this one. It sounds far more exciting than some you've had in the past. Oh, and I'm also eager to receive the elements you collected."

Thystian stood, silent. Savanna waited, then narrowed an eye and tilted her head. Thystian sighed, and replied, "Yes, Savanna."

The two began to walk out of the station, and Thystian added, "And just so you know, after this, I'm taking an extended vacation. I have someone I need to go see. Someone important..."

"Well you sure as heck deserve it, Thystian..." Savanna said, their conversation being cut off as the door of the chamber shut behind them.

~~05~~

The Dragon's forest. It had not changed at all since Goldy and Tocsin were taken away by Bluey's portal, easily a week ago. High, high in the blue sky, well above the forest, the air began to distort. Shortly, a circular portal that looked like an inverted tornado opened. Out of it fell, head-first, Tocsin and Goldy. With yells, they slowed their falls to a crawl in the air with their wings. The portal closed above them with a soft shifting sound.

As they descended, Goldy looked at Tocsin for a moment. Goldy eventually broke the silence, "You took one for the team, Tocsin... I know I kinda overreacted when I learned, but... That sacrifice was huge... I wanna thank you for that..."

Tocsin responded, "You're welcome, Goldy."

Goldy held silent for a moment, then said, "How sad are you, having to separate from Deetria like that?"

Tocsin, his voice calm, replied, "I little... But... she said something to me that makes me feel certain we'll see each other again."

"Yeah?" Goldy inquired.

Tocsin looked at Goldy, a solemn expression, and replied, "She said, 'I love you.'"

Goldy slowly nodded, looking back down. Tocsin looked down as well. In his mind, he heard Deetria's whispering voice echo throughout his thoughts, "_I love you, Tocsin._"

Below, the forest drew near, as the two descended down to it. Above, the sky, a shining, glorious blue. Home, once again.

THE END

Dragon Tails © Tim Dawson

Wenonah Galaxy © Adrian Smith


End file.
